Haaretz journalist under fire for appearing on antisemite's podcast
Gideon Levy joined Jackson Hinke, who has expressed support for Hamas, gave a speech recently during a visit to Houthi-controlled Sana'a, and even visited Lebanon for Nasrallah's funeral
Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, is at the center of controversy following his appearance on the podcast "Legitimate Targets," hosted by antisemite and conspiracy theorist Jackson Hinke.
Hinke, who describes himself as a "conservative Marxist-Leninist," is known for his open support of terrorist groups, particularly Hamas and the Houthis. He recently attended Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's funeral in Lebanon, and traveled to Yemen where he met with Houthi leaders, speaking at a rally in Sana'a, the capital in the Houthi-controlled part of the country. In addition to his pro-Palestinian activism, he has emerged as one of the leading antisemitic influencers after repeating antisemitic tropes.
During the interview, focused on the political climate in Israel following the resumption of fighting in Gaza, Levy sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of never intending to implement the later stages of the ceasefire for political reasons. He also mentioned the return of Itamar Ben Gvir to the coalition after conditioning his return on the resumption of fighting.
Regarding the attacks of October 7, Hinkle questioned the allegations of rapes perpetrated by Hamas, claiming that "the UN had no proof about that," contrary to an official report published last year on Hamas atrocities.
Levy responded: "I wouldn't say anything about it because I purely don't know. And I, you know, does it really matter? I was in the kibbutzim on the 9th, I mean two days, so Monday – the 9th of October, '23, and I saw horrible things which I'd never seen in my all career. So horrible things took place there. They claim there were rapes, and I can only believe because I don't think there is room to start to put doubts, because there are no doubts that horrible things happened there. Were there some rapes? I guess there were; I have no proof."
When pressed further on the subject, Levy added "Is it really important whether they just slaughtered people or also raped them? I don't know."
The host repeatedly labeled Zionists as "genocidal," accusing them of being responsible for antisemitism. Levy agreed: "I couldn't agree more with you. For years, Israeli propaganda was based on a single manipulation, mainly to label criticism of Israel as antisemitism."