Israel Katz: FM Leading Israeli Diplomatic Campaign of Genocide in Gaza

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli Occupation’s genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, which has also spread to Lebanon, has elicited a fiercely aggressive and extreme diplomatic response spearheaded by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a prominent member of the Security Cabinet.

Since taking office as Foreign Minister on January 2, 2024, Katz has adopted an extreme rhetoric that strays far from diplomacy, focusing instead on defaming and discrediting international officials.

One notable example occurred on October 20, 2024, when he announced the initiation of legal action against French President Emmanuel Macron to prevent companies involved in the Israeli genocide in Gaza and Lebanon from participating in a military trade fair in France.

Earlier, on October 2, he declared that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was now considered a persona non grata, banning him from entering “Israel” following Guterres's condemnation of the war crimes committed by the Israeli Occupation army against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon.

Katz’s role as the leader of Israeli foreign diplomacy during this period stems from his long career in decision-making circles within the state, where he has held various security and intelligence positions.

Radical Background

Israel Katz was born on September 21, 1955, in the occupied city of Ashkelon, to Romanian parents Meir Katz and Malka, who claim to be Holocaust survivors.

Katz grew up in the agricultural settlement of Kfar Hayim, established in 1953 on the ruins of the Arab village of Qastina, with financial support from the Swedish government.

He received his secondary education at Or Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, one of the oldest and most prominent Religious-Zionist schools in “Israel,” under the guidance of Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the prominent rabbis in the leadership of the religious Zionist movement worldwide.

The principles of Or Etzion were based on the ideas of Rabbi Isaac Kook, with the stipulation that students would not be drafted into the army until two and a half years after studying the Torah.

According to the system in place in the Israeli Occupation state at that time, students would complete their secondary education before joining the army and could continue their university education afterward.

Katz was indeed drafted into the Israeli army in November 1973, one month after the October 6 War.

He volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade and gradually advanced through the military ranks, ultimately achieving the rank of company commander.

In 1976, he became an infantry officer after graduating from the officer candidate school and returned to the Paratroopers Brigade as a squad leader. He was discharged in 1977 after serving his mandatory military service.

Enemy of the Arabs

Afterward, Katz earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, then enrolled in graduate studies at the same university but did not finish his thesis.

His university years were marked by significant tensions and confrontations, particularly with Arab students.

In early 1980, he served as the head of the student union, part of a campus movement that opposed the presence of Arab students in Hebrew universities, leading to clashes with many of them.

Hebrew media reported that Katz and his associates adopted violent tactics; for example, he snatched the microphone from then-dean Gidion Shafsky when the latter tried to criticize Katz’s group.

Another of his actions during that period involved dispersing gatherings of Arab students protesting the Israeli Occupation using iron chains.

In 1981, he took it a step further by holding the university president, Raphael Meshoulam, in his office in protest against what he called “the neglect of Arab violence on campus.”

As a result, the Hebrew University administration expelled him for a year and barred him from campus during that time.

Student of Sharon

Katz joined the Likud Party and was part of the youth faction close to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In 1984, Katz served as deputy director of Sharon’s office when Sharon was the Minister of Trade and Industry.

In that same year, he was one of the key strategists behind the 1988 elections, leading special operations for Likud and mobilizing hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens in campaign tours across the West Bank to boost the party's support.

Katz first entered the Knesset in November 1998, serving on several committees, including Foreign Affairs and War, Finance, Law, Constitution, and Justice, and Internal Affairs and Environment.

He also participated in the Special Committee for Public Petitions, the Joint Committee on the War Budget, and the Special Committee for Discussion of Security Service Law.

He also served as the chairman of the Likud Party conference, becoming one of the influential figures within the structure of the right-wing party.

Corrupt Official

From this point, Katz's career took a different trajectory as he became Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in Ariel Sharon’s government in 2003.

However, his first ministerial position was marred by corruption allegations. In March 2007, Israeli police charged Katz with fraud and breach of trust for making politically and familially motivated appointments within the Ministry of Agriculture.

A report by the Israeli Occupation forces revealed that 24 seasonal employees in the ministry were members of the Likud Central Committee or were their children and relatives.

The investigation's findings were referred to the district’s central prosecution, but prosecutors later declined to pursue legal action.

Despite the corruption allegations, Katz was appointed Minister of Transportation in 2009.

In 2015, he was reappointed as Minister of Transportation, this time also taking on the role of Minister of Intelligence.

In 2019, Katz began his first term as Minister of Foreign Affairs while simultaneously holding the position of Minister of Intelligence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he was assigned, in addition to his responsibilities in Foreign Affairs and Intelligence, the role of Minister of Finance, overseeing economic policy.

In January 2023, Katz was appointed Minister of Energy and Infrastructure in Benjamin Netanyahu's most extreme government in the history of “Israel.”

At that time, a three-way agreement was made between Netanyahu, Katz, and then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, stipulating that after one year, Katz would swap positions with Cohen.

Indeed, on January 2, 2024, Katz began his second term as Minister of Foreign Affairs, coinciding with the escalation of the Israeli Occupation’s genocide in Gaza.

Although the role of diplomacy typically involves balance and the pursuit of solutions to complex issues, Katz has been a true face of the Israeli Occupation state.

He advocates an extreme policy against the entire Arab presence in Palestine, supports settlement expansion, and strongly opposes the idea of a two-state solution.

On February 3, 2024, he launched a controversial initiative that proposed the creation of an artificial island off the coast of Gaza to relocate Palestinian residents there and replace them with Jewish settlers.

Katz presented the idea, according to Times of Israel, during a meeting with his European Union counterparts to discuss post-genocide plans for Gaza.

Enemy of Erdogan

On the international front, since assuming his position, Katz has focused on disparaging Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is widely known around the world.

Erdogan has been leading a campaign since the onset of the Israeli genocide in Gaza that highlights Israeli Occupation’s crimes and its war government, frequently referring to Netanyahu as “the Hitler of this era.”

On February 26, 2024, Katz criticized Erdogan, stating on X that the Turkish leader wants to deny Israeli right to defend itself against “a terrorist organization” launching attacks from Lebanon under orders from Iran.  “You best shut up and be ashamed!” he said.

Katz's anger led him to direct accusations and insults at Erdogan regarding his treatment of the Kurds along the Syrian border, calling him a “criminal.”

In August 2024, Katz also targeted Erdogan for the decision to lower the Turkish flag at the Ankara embassy in Tel Aviv after Turkiye declared a day of mourning for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Due to his repeated attacks on Erdogan, Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry condemned Katz posts, calling that an attempt to cover up Israeli crimes.

“We consider the disrespectful post by the Israeli Foreign Minister targeting our esteemed President as a tone that can only be adopted by an official of a state accused of genocide,” the statement said.

Slamming Katz's social media posts, the ministry said: “Such slander and lies are part of Israel’s efforts to cover up the crimes it has committed.”

Many observers believe that Katz is using these posts to defend Netanyahu and position himself as a political leader standing up to the globally influential Erdogan.