What did you actually think about in there? Who visited you? Who stopped speaking to you? And was there ever a night when you thought I could just go do the tour, come home and no one would know?

First of all, it was very important for me not just to refuse as a person.

You know, there is this very famous story that I'm sure you know about that guy that used to demonstrate against the war in Vietnam and was totally alone in front of the Capitol Hill.

And everybody was shouting at him, what are you doing? You're not going to change the world by yourself.

And that guy used to say, yes, but I'm doing whatever I can so the world will not change me.

So that's not enough in my view, because it's very important for me to emphasize what I did was not solely conscientious objection in the sense of not taking part in crimes.

Of course, it was very important.

if

Is that your position?

No, actually, it's not.

The law is very clear.

There are very few reasons that can be used to disqualify one, either the least or an individual from participating in the election.

And the one, the major one, the supposedly attached to me is that I support armed struggle against Israel, which is nonsense.

And they actually couldn't even prove that because there's no way to prove, given my ongoing objection to any kind of violence.

I was very clear on the 7th of October and afterwards and before that I support, of course, the Palestinian struggle against the occupation, against the siege on Gaza, but by nonviolent means.

today to disqualify you as well.

Where's that justification come from?

Yes, I think that we must understand how the system operates.

Uh, this is not merely st- settler terrorism, although it is also of course, but they are only the proxies.

It is far more complex.

It is a state-sponsored terrorism.

Uh, the government funds, encourages, and supports everything that happens.

Let's begin with what has been happening in the last week in Kusra, in which as I said, I visited a couple of days ago.

How come that law cannot be overturned?

Do you see that as what is happening, or do you think that there are also motivations outside of Israel that are motivating, um, the United States? And obviously, you're not in the United States, but based on your perspective as an Israeli.

I think that, uh, American imperialism is the main issue here.

It's always been.

I mean, uh, the United States was not provoked to, uh, uh, initiate the coup d'état against, uh, Mohammed Mossadegh in nineteen fifty-three when he was the, uh, the pres- the prime minister elected by the Iranian people, and only because he wanted to nationalize the oil industry.

So the United States actually initiated this coup and put the Shah instead of him.

And let's, lets us not forget that the, the Savak, the secret police of the, of the Shah, was not, uh, much, uh, better, uh, let's say, you know, quote-unquote, with the current, uh, regime, which I despise, to be very clear, you know.

Uh, United States, uh, either under the Democrats or Republicans was, never really cared for the well-being of, uh, of the peoples, including, by the way, the American people, let alone other peoples in Latin America or in Vietnam or in Korea or in Afghanistan or Iraq or whatever.

The Duke, right

Why should it be called the genocide law?

Well, apart from the law as such itself, you know, that we should analyze and refer to, and I believe we will do that, we have to see the specific context, the context of the political discourse, mainly within the coalition but also in the public, in the society at large.

Two things should be observed.

First, that there is a common parliament within the public and especially within the coalition discourse, that there's nothing, uh, as such as, uh, Jewish terrorism.

If there is nothing like Jewish terrorism, that also means or entails logically that there aren't Jewish terrorists.

And if there aren't Jewish terrorists, that means that this law doesn't appeal and apply, this law doesn't apply to Jews by definition.

On the other hand, the very same who argue that there's nothing such as Jewish terrorism argue that all Palestinians are terrorists.

Do you think that is a viable option to get this overturned?

Uh, Ofer, I wanted to ask you, in terms of the, uh, the level of response and the, and resistance and counterattack by Iran o-on Israel, what has been the effect on the population? Did the government and the people expect this kind of response? Uh, and interestingly, here in the United States, we're not seeing in the American media much, uh, many images of what damage is being caused within Israel, uh, of these attacks by Iran.

Uh, we, we are not sure about the damage either because they, uh, we don't know if what the media in Israel shows is accurate and if it is indeed the, the full scale.

Uh, we obviously don't want anyone to get harmed, neither in Israel nor in Palestine or in Iran or anywhere else.

That's the reason we oppose this, uh, and oppose this war and aggression from the very beginning.

But as I said, the real way to stop it is a diplomatic and political one, not a military one.

And, uh, and unfortunately, uh, at the moment, the majority within the Israeli public support the government and support the aggression against Iran.

It, it is quite, uh, you know, systematic.

And, and what about that impact in Palestine? You said that the war on Iran would be used to justify increased oppression against the Palestinians.

Uh, Ofer, I wanted to ask you, in terms of the, uh, the level of response and the, and resistance and counterattack by Iran o-on Israel, what has been the effect on the population? Did the government and the people expect this kind of response? Uh, and interestingly, here in the United States, we're not seeing in the American media much, uh, many images of what damage is being caused within Israel, uh, of these attacks by Iran.

Uh, we, we are not sure about the damage either because they, uh, we don't know if what the media in Israel shows is accurate and, uh, and if it is indeed the, the full scale.

Uh, we obviously don't want anyone to get harmed, neither in Israel nor in Palestine or in Iran or anywhere else.

That's the reason we oppose this, uh, and oppose this war and aggression from the very beginning.

But as I said, the real way to stop it is a diplomatic and political one, not a military one.

And, uh, and unfortunately, uh, at the moment, the majority within the Israeli public support the government and support the aggression against Iran.

It, it is quite, uh, you know, systematic.

And, and what about that impact in Palestine? You said that the war on Iran would be used to justify increased oppression against the Palestinians.

Uh, Ofer, I wanted to ask you, in terms of the, uh, the level of response and the, and resistance and counterattack by Iran o-on Israel, what has been the effect on the population? Did the government and the people expect this kind of response? Uh, and interestingly, here in the United States, we're not seeing in the American media much, uh, many images of what damage is being caused within Israel, uh, of these attacks by Iran.

Uh, we, we are not sure about the damage either because they, uh, we don't know if what the media in Israel shows is accurate and, uh, and if it is indeed the, the full scale.

Uh, we obviously don't want anyone to get harmed, neither in Israel nor in Palestine or in Iran or anywhere else.

That's the reason we oppose this, uh, and oppose this war and aggression from the very beginning.

But as I said, the real way to stop it is a diplomatic and political one, not a military one.

And, uh, and unfortunately, uh, at the moment, the majority within the Israeli public support the government and support the aggression against Iran.

It, it is quite, uh, you know, systematic.

And, and what about that impact in Palestine? You said that the war on Iran would be used to justify increased oppression against the Palestinians.

And what is your sense now of the, uh, of the impact on Israeli society and on, on your, uh, democracy, uh, of, uh, this peace plan and the fate of, uh, Netanyahu in the future?

First of all, if I may refer to what you said about Israel as a democracy, it pops out to my mind, you know, something that Mahatma Gandhi said.

He was asked once what he thought about, uh, British civilization, and he said, "I think it's a wonderful idea." So if you ask me what I think about the Israeli democracy, I would answer the same.

I think it's a wonderful idea.

Unfortunately, we are not there yet.

That's not a democracy, but perhaps that's for another, uh, uh, uh, chat.

Uh, but the influence, uh, of, uh, the, uh, change in the international, uh, uh, atmosphere, uh, does influence the public discourse within Israel.

And we're not even talking here about the charges in the international court of crimes against humanity.

What, why did you do what you did today?

Because the, President Trump was a, a part and parcel, complicit in the ongoing genocide that Israel pursued in the Gaza Strip.

And today, to refer to him as if he was the savior, savior of the, uh, Palestinians and many of the Israeli hostages, that's, uh, simply a sheer lie.

I couldn't really tolerate this, uh, cult of personality that was, uh, going on today in the Knesset to both, uh, Trump and Netanyahu when we all know that they are responsible for the fact that the terrible genocide and the sacrifice of the Israeli hostages didn't stop almost one year ago, or as far as Trump is concerned, when he came to, when he took office.

That could be prevented, but he didn't want to, and, uh, so we had to say something about it.

This is a day of joy I must say, this is a day of joy.

We supported the families of the hostages, and we wanted and we struggled for the hostages as well as to end the genocide, uh, but this joy is, uh, mixed-... with pain and sadness, to which Trump is responsible too, we cannot ignore that.

Yeah.