Hours before singing in a kibbutz near Gaza, the torrential singer Noa, a pacifist voice since the assassination of her admired Rabin in 1995, shared her thoughts yesterday at her home, near Tel-Aviv. And he denounced that the simplicity of the networks ends up killing people on this earth.
Where was day 7?
I had just come back from New York and went to the beach, like every morning. After a few hours we realized that it was not another attack. It was a catastrophe. Terrorists massacred, raped, burned people alive, mutilated bodies with glee and taking selfies. I am against all wars, but even wars have rules. They skipped them all. When we Israelis look at the world we see that the world has not realized the magnitude of what has happened, or they don't want to know or they ignore us. Where we thought we had friends, we don't.
He thought: "Is it war"?
Not at that time. Today, a month later, we are still trying to assimilate the magnitude of what happened. Israel will need years to face and process the horror. What will this war lead us to? That's the big question I ask myself.
You have been a very critical voice with Netanyahu...
What has happened in Israeli society, which was fractured, is extraordinary. We have discovered the most beautiful parts of our society in the most horrific tragedy in our history. Israel has been fractured by Netanyahu and his Government, in a Machiavellian way. I'm not talking about the last few months, I've been protesting since Rabin's assassination in 1995. I'm from Rabin's clan, whose legacy is very important: make peace so that there is no terror, and fight terrorism as if there would be peace Since he was killed, the deterioration has not stopped. And these ten months of protests prior to October 7, people warned that we were headed for disaster because of the ideology of the extreme right in power, the people who assassinated Rabin! They are disintegrating our democracy and weakening the people because we are ruled by criminals. It's the truth. Although we are not the only country with people who are not qualified to govern.
Donald Trump...
It is an example and there are many, we are experiencing a clear leadership crisis. The political system is so poisoned that decent people don't want to enter it. In Israel, it has reached heights, with Messianic extremists, on trial, advocates of terrorism, without credentials for their place. And the army squads that were supposed to protect the border in Gaza were protecting the settlers and their madness in the West Bank. unacceptable
It is clear that he does not sympathize with this Government...
Since Rabin there have been no serious attempts to make peace. There has been a weakening of moderates in Palestinian society and a strengthening of fanatics. In the Arab world, no one has shown moderation either and they have turned on the jihad. Neither side has understood that only an alliance of moderates will bring us back to life. All other things are a prescription for death. We moderates have paid a high price in criticism, we have always said "two states for two peoples", the only solution. And when I feel that this outlet is dead, I say: and what is your solution? Bloodshed, wars? With me, let them not count.
Can peace emerge from a war like this?
There is a way out of this crisis! And it is necessary that we choose this path, which requires courage. It has risks, but it is worth it, because the goal is life and not death. Then there is geopolitics. When you want to understand something, look for the money. The big countries have financial interests and that will help us reach an agreement, because if this continues it is not good for their business. And secondly, this war has been waged by people who want to make a lot of money by controlling our minds. The people who use algorithms on social media, which keep us stupid, unable to hold a conversation, to hold our attention for more than 15 seconds, well, a minute. Thank you, Instagram. It is the death of complexity, the death of truth, the revival of the fake, all fake, of the Kardashians with botox and lies raised by algorithms.
Hamas receives sympathy...
When I see Palestinian people I respect, artists, supporting Hamas, calling them "freedom fighters", I think: are you crazy? No one can dispute my credentials. I've been playing a role for 28 years, I've done it, modestly, and I've paid a very high price for both sides. I'm Israeli and I won't say I hate Israel. I love Israel, I work for Israel, for me working for peace is working for my country. Not the opposite.
What do you think when you see demonstrations in Europe with "Free Palestine" posters?
If you want peace with Israel, I am your friend. If you want to destroy Israel, I am not. And I say to these people that your slogan must be "peace" or "two states for two peoples", but if you call me "Hamas, freedom fighters", destroying Israel's right to exist, you are stoking the flames of anti-Semitism. This is not humanitarian, it is not peace, it is something else.
7 October and the war in Gaza can not precisely strengthen the extremists?
It's a simplistic view and people don't like complexity. The Hamas terrorists who killed activists neither knew nor cared, they were going to kill Jews. There are also Jews whose ideology I am ashamed of. And Jewish terrorists who burned children alive. When you don't make peace, you will have war. And war is horrible. What responsibility do we decent people have? Work for peace, there is no other choice. Extremism never disappears on its own.
What do you feel when you see the images of Gaza?
I cry for both of them. My blood is no better than his. Gaza makes me miserable, I wish I could stop it with my bare hands.
And what would he say to the left in Europe?
Giving support in the slightest form to Hamas, no. Manifest, friends, for peace, only for peace. And if it doesn't bother you, also because of the abductees, for them to come back, think of your children, as if they were in a Hamas cell. People get carried away by simplisms. Yesterday, Björk, an artist I admire, published something as stupid and disruptive as maps to understand the conflict... Please! Do you expect to understand the complexity with four maps in a few minutes? Let's not be idiots, because now this idiocy is dangerous, saying irresponsible things can cost lives. If you don't have the time to understand the complexity of the conflict, go out and speak out for peace, but if you don't, you are putting the lives of Israelis and Palestinians at risk with your uninformed statements.
Did Israel commit genocide?
Israel is not committing any genocide, Israel is now defending itself against brutal terror and it sucks, because war sucks. Do I have a simple solution? No. If it were up to me, there would be a ceasefire now.
