Claims that Isaac Herzog ‘incited genocide’ are baseless incitement
Claims that Israeli President Isaac Herzog incited genocide in Gaza have spread ahead of his visit, but the record shows these accusations misrepresent his words
This article by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) originally appeared on aijac.org.au:
In the leadup to the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, claims that he “incited genocide” in Gaza have been widely circulated. These claims are themselves baseless incitement.
The claim that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza is false. The many measures Israel took to preserve civilian life, and the ratio of civilian casualties as against fighters, which compared favourably to other recent urban warfare campaigns, demonstrate unequivocally there was no genocide.
The specific claim against President Herzog was made by a UN Commission of Inquiry, which concluded in September 2025 that Herzog and others made ‘direct and public incitement to commit genocide.’ However, the report did not directly quote Herzog or provide any other evidence to show that Herzog made inciting remarks.
It has since been frequently repeated, including by Chris Sidoti, one of the Commissioners on that UN Commission, who wrote, in the Guardian on February 5, “Herzog made the statement that all Palestinians, ‘an entire nation’, are responsible for the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.” However, this is a complete misrepresentation of what Herzog said.
The comments in question were made by President Herzog as he answered questions at a press conference six days after the October 7 atrocities, after he and all Israelis saw sickening footage of Hamas terrorists being cheered by huge mobs on the streets of Gaza as they paraded hostages and the bodies of slain Israelis, and crowds defiling the dead bodies and beating the hostages as they passed.
He said, “First of all, we have to understand there’s a state, there’s a state, in a way, that was a, that has built a machine of evil right at our doorstep. It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians were not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza in a coup d’etat, murdering their family members who were in Fatah.”
He appears to have been correctly noting that Hamas was not simply a terrorist group operating in Gaza, but was the government of Gaza, and had turned that territory into a terror statelet. He also uses the word “state” twice as well as “nation”, making it clear that he is referring to Hamas-run Gaza, not Palestinians as a people.
Moreover, in the same answer, Herzog also said, “We are working, operating militarily according to rules of international law, period. Unequivocally.”
In response to further questions, he said, “I just said that Israel abides by international law, operates by international law. Every operation is secured and covered and reviewed legally,” and, “There is no, there is no excuse to murdering innocent civilians in any way, in any context and believe me, Israel will operate and always operates according to the international rules, and we’ll do the same in this battle, too.”
He was also asked, “You seem to hold the people of Gaza, the civilians of Gaza responsible for not removing Hamas and therefore by implication, that makes them legitimate targets,” and replied, “No, I didn’t say that. I did not say that and I want to make it clear.”
There is nothing in the entire transcript that is an incitement to genocide, and in case there was any confusion, Herzog was very clear that he was not saying all Gazans were targets.
The press conference can be seen on YouTube here:
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