President Isaac Herzog described an ongoing process of “brutalization” in Israeli society during the awards ceremony for the Jerusalem Unity Prize 2026 at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“I wish I could speak today only about unity,” Herzog stated, “But to my great sorrow, we are living through days in which violence is not the only thing rearing its head. Alongside it, at the margins of our magnificent Israeli society, a terrible process is creeping in – a terrible process of brutalization. It is a slow and disturbing process, one that threatens to enter the mainstream of Israeli society, and we will not allow it.”
Among the examples of the ongoing and spreading violence, Herzog cited the increasing murder rate among Arab Israelis, as well as the violence caused by “a lawless mob in Judea and Samaria.”
He also referenced recent violent acts carried out against Christians and Muslims, labeling the actions “disgraceful and ugly conduct by extremists.”
“I stand here and say aloud: unity begins with humanity,” Herzog declared. “Preserving human dignity, the image of God in every person, is the foundational condition for the entire edifice we are building. Even in the most just of all wars, we must preserve the image of God within us, and within every person who lives among us, or alongside us.”
Herzog criticizes Ben-Gvir for flotilla behavior
At the end of his speech, Herzog also alluded to the viral video from last week of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir harassing and abusing detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla.
“It is forbidden to abuse detainees, however contemptible they may be,” he announced. “It is forbidden to take the law into one’s own hands. It is forbidden to harm people of other faiths and their symbols. And we cannot tolerate this brutalization that is emerging from the margins of our society and threatening us all.”
Ben-Gvir reacted to Herzog’s comments on his actions, announcing on X/Twitter that “A president who calls hundreds of thousands of citizens of the State of Israel beasts is not fit to be president. Period.”
נשיא מדינה שקורא למאות אלפי אזרחי מדינת ישראל בהמות, לא ראוי להיות נשיא. נקודה.
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) May 24, 2026
“I am proud of the changes I led in the prisons, with the end of the terrorists’ kindergarten, with the fact that the prisons have turned into real prisons,” Ben-Gvir stated. “And of the fact that Israel no longer turns the other cheek to terror supporters.”
