Rabbi who became mascot for Gaza genocide honoured by Israel on independence day
Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, whose name became synonymous with destroying Palestinian homes in Gaza, will light a torch at Israel’s national independence day ceremony - one of the country’s highest civilian honours.
The annual ceremony, held on 21 April, celebrates the establishment of Israel in 1948 (an event known to Palestinians as the Nakba - or catastrophe - which ethnically cleansed over 750,000 people).
Miri Regev, the populist right-wing transport minister, chose the rabbi as one of those to light a torch this year.
The ceremony is attended by key government and military figures, and includes a ritual where a handful of citizens considered to have made exemplary contributions to society light 12 torches.
Zarbiv is a rabbinical court judge in Ariel, an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
He lives in the Israeli settlement of Beit El, where his home was built illegally on private Palestinian land.
Zarbiv spent more than a year in Gaza, where he was a D9 bulldozer operator during Israel’s genocide.
He became famous across Israel for his commitment to flattening Palestinian homes.
Read more: Rabbi who became mascot for Gaza genocide honoured by Israel on independence day
Avraham Zarbiv poses in front of a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip (Screengrab/Social media)