Israeli teacher arrested after suggesting Hamas attack was justified 

A history and civics teacher at a school in Israel’s Petah Tikva was arrested after suggesting Hamas was justified for the atrocities it carried out during its Oct. 7 attack, police said.

The teacher, who has not been publicly named, was fired and accused of spreading propaganda on WhatsApp as he asserted Hamas was free to do everything in its power to fight back against Israel, The Times of Israel reported.

“An occupied nation is allowed to do anything that is needed in order to succeed in its struggle,” he allegedly wrote in a group message last month with other teachers.  

The instructor also appeared to defend the rapes Hamas is said to have perpetrated by claiming that IDF members also sexually assaulted people during the decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

“Israeli soldiers didn’t rape Palestinians? They have since 1948, and this doesn’t make it into the textbooks,” he allegedly wrote.

Police said a complaint was filed against the teacher, who was subsequently fired by the Petah Tikva municipality and Education Ministry.

The man appeared before court on Friday, with a judge extending his custody at least until Monday as police continue to investigate the case, officials said.

“We take seriously this case in which a history teacher who educates children in a school in Israel, distorts history, calls IDF pilots murderers, justifies the actions of the enemy and aids the enemy in times of war, among other things, by fabrications that include blaming IDF soldiers,” police said in a statement, according to the Israeli outlet Mako.

The teacher has also been accused of expressing anti-IDF sentiments in the past and trying to encourage high school students to refuse serving in Israel’s military.

He also slammed IDF pilots as “child murderers” who serve the military even if “they know well what the results will be.”

His arrest comes after Israeli police they would stick to a zero-tolerance policy toward incitement of violence and terror since the nation launched its retaliation on the Gaza Strip over Hamas’ massacre that killed at least 1,200 in Israel on Oct. 7.

So far, Israeli police have recorded 48 indictments of this crime and are investigating 381 publications over statements made regarding the war.

Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbe has gone as far as proposing to strip individuals of citizenship should they express solidarity with terror groups or incite terror during war.