Pro-Palestinian actions are aimed against Jews, Ambassador Alexander Ben Zvi is convinced. The slogan ‘From the river to the sea,’ which is used at demonstrations, calls for the destruction of Israel, he claims.

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‘The pro-Palestinian demonstrations that are taking place around the world after the start of a new aggravation in the Middle East are a manifestation of anti-Semitism. Such demonstrations are not directed against Israeli policies, but against Jews,’ he adds.

‘This is not only against Israel. Let’s make sure no one gets it wrong, this is a new type of anti-Semitism,’ the diplomat is convinced.

‘There are slogans, the Star of David is in the trash, and ‘we need to cleanse the world.’ From whom? From what?’ asked Ben Zvi. ’This is no longer against the policy of the State of Israel. ’We have demonstrations inside Israel against the policies of the state of Israel,’ the ambassador said.

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Ben Zvi recalled the words from the river to the sea Palestine will be free, which became one of the main slogans at rallies in support of Palestine. ‘Where is Israel? If there is a free Palestine between the river and the sea, where is Israel? In the sea? This already speaks of the destruction of the state of Israel,’ he is sure.

Let me be clear: this is not the 1940s. We won’t die in concentration camps anyway. We will defend ourselves and it will cost the enemy a great price.

The words ‘From the river to the sea…’ in the slogan refer to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which covers Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

It was chanted by massive marches for Palestine by demonstrators in hundreds of cities around the world. Many Palestinian activists say it is a call for peace and equality, but Israel and Jewish organizations see it as a call to destroy the country. 

The phrase is reflected in Hamas’s charter: the group’s 2017 charter states that it ‘rejects any alternative to the complete and final liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.’ In 2012, Khaled Meshal, then the leader of the movement, declared: ‘Palestine belongs to us from the river to the sea and from south to north.’

In early November, American Democratic Congresswoman from Michigan Rashida Tlaib shared this slogan on social networks, for which she was condemned by other legislators. 

The phrase ‘From the river to the sea…’ was banned by the Bavarian prosecutor’s office, threatening that its use could result in criminal penalties. British Interior Minister Suella Braverman drew attention to the slogan, saying that many interpret it as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state (Braverman was dismissed on November 13 after a scandal caused by criticism of the London police against the backdrop of mass protests in the capital).

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Demonstrations in support of both Israel and Palestine have been ongoing since October 7, when Hamas carried out a retaliatory attack on Israel after 75 years of illegal occupation.

Against this background, the European Commission noted a surge in anti-Semitic incidents throughout Europe. At the end of October, anti-Semitic actions also took place in the Russian North Caucasus (arson of a Jewish center under construction in Nalchik, demands of a crowd in Khasavyurt to evict Israeli citizens from a hotel, an unauthorized rally in Cherkessk). 

The loudest emergency was the riots at Makhachkala airport, where a flight from Tel Aviv arrived on October 29. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov linked them with interference from abroad, Ben Zvi called them incitement. According to the diplomat, the riots were directed both against Jews and against the state.

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