Yair Lapid
Role at the time: Leader of the opposition, Knesset
Statement summary
Opposition leader Yair Lapid joined Netanyahu in condemning a Palestinian Authority foreign ministry statement that blamed Israeli helicopters and the Hannibal Protocol for the killings at the Nova festival.
“Anyone who denies the massacre makes himself an accomplice to the most terrible crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Ynet News report on the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry's claim about the Nova festival and the Hannibal Protocol, with responses from Netanyahu and Yair Lapid.
Why we used this label
The reference point is Israeli fire on October 7, 2023, under or in the manner of the Hannibal Directive, that put Israeli captives at risk of being killed by Israeli forces. Lapid rejects the Palestinian Authority's claim that Israel killed the festivalgoers under the Hannibal Protocol as false denial of the massacre, which disputes the characterization. The closest competing label is Defended or excused, but he denies the claim rather than justifying any fire.