Zvika Fogel

Zvika Fogel
Faction represented in the Knesset
2022–Otzma Yehudit
Other offices held
2003–2005Councillor, Beersheba City Council
2007–2008Councillor, Tuba-Zangariyye Local Council
2008–2012Head, Tuba-Zangariyye Local Council
Personal details
Born (1956-11-03) November 3, 1956 (age 68)
Beersheba, Israel
Spouse
Anat Fogel
​
(m. 1982)​
Children3
EducationB.A. (general history)
M.A. (organizational behavior)
Alma materBeit Yerah High School
Tel Aviv University
OccupationPolitician, military commentator
Former military officer, organizational consultant
Military service
AllegianceIsrael Israel
Branch/service Israel Defense Forces
Years of service1975–1979, 1981–2003, 2005–2012
RankBrigadier General (Res.)
UnitNorthern Command
Southern Command
Battles/wars

Zvika Fogel or Tzvika Foghel[1] (Hebrew: צביקה פוגל; born 3 November 1956[1]) is an Israeli[2] politician, activist and former military officer who serves as a member of Knesset for Otzma Yehudit following the 2022 Israeli legislative election.

Biography

Fogel was born on 3 November 1956[3] in Beersheba to the Romanian Ashkenazi couple of Haim and Dietza Fogel and grew up with a brother.[4][5] He moved to Kvutzat Kinneret during the 9th grade of his schooling and studied at the Beit Yerah High School.[6][5]

After completing his military service, Fogel studied law at the Tel Aviv University for two years, but left the course in order to return to the army in 1981.[5] He married Anat Fogel in 1982 and the two are parents of three sons.[5] Fogel completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in general history, and his Master of Arts in organizational behavior.[7] He moved to Safed in 2007, following which he worked as an organizational consultant in Netanya and Petah Tikva.[6]

Since 2010 he has voluntarily commanded the Golan Rescue Unit of the Israel Police and helped rescue people during the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire. He also serves as the vice-chairman of the Firefighters' Association of the Eastern Galilee and the Golan. He currently lives in Mishmar HaYarden and also works as a military commentator.[5][8]

Military career

Fogel enlisted in a pilot course for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1975, but did not finish the course and eventually became an officer in the Artillery Corps. He completed his service in 1979, but rejoined the IDF in 1981[4][5] and remained an officer in the army until retiring in 2003 with the rank of tat aluf (brigadier general).[9]

Fogel commanded an artillery battery during the 1982 Lebanon War, and led the 334th Artillery Battalion during Operation Accountability in 1993 while serving as a colonel in the Northern Command. The unit created a flow of refugees from Southern Lebanon in order to pressure the Lebanese government to prevent rocket attacks by Hezbollah on Israel. As part of Operation Grapes of Wrath in 1996, he commanded the 282nd Artillery Brigade.[6]

During his tenure Fogel also commanded the "David's Sling" brigade[9] and served as the chief of staff to Doron Almog of the Southern Command. During the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, he along with Yom-Tov Samia recommended fortifying IDF outposts in the Gaza Strip. During Operation Defensive Shield and another military operation in 2003, Fogel advised doubling the deployment of IDF troops to avoid being outmanoeuvred.[10]

Fogel later approached Yoav Gallant in 2005 to set up the position of an "artillery coordinator" in all three divisions of the IDF, with all the weapons except small arms and tanks being stored in one place. Gallant agreed and Fogel was initially re-enlisted for 6 months as a reservist. He helped set up and was assigned to the position of Artillery Coordinator for the Southern Command in late 2008. During Operation Cast Lead from 2008–2009, Fogel coordinated and oversaw all bombardments by the Southern Command on the Gaza Strip.[5][6]

In March 2009, he admitted to Reuters that Israeli tactics to protect soldiers in Operation Cast Lead caused deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians during the conflict, but stated that such incidents were rare.[11] He also served as the artillery coordinator during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.[12] In a 2018 interview with the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, Fogel confirmed that IDF snipers were authorized to shoot Palestinian teenagers on the border with Gaza Strip by their commanders.[13]

Political career

In the 2003 Israeli municipal elections, Fogel ran as a mayoral candidate for Beersheba as an independent candidate with the support of the Shinui party.[10][6] He came in the third place in the elections and served on the city council until 2005.[14]

After moving to Safed in late 2007, he was appointed by the Ministry of Interior to serve as the head of the Tuba-Zangariyye Council, after the elected council was dissolved due to procedural mismanagement. Fogel rejected the position, but accepted the offer of becoming a member of the town council instead.[6]

He assumed the position of the head of the Tuba-Zangariyye Council in August 2008 after a year of being pressured by the Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. During his tenure, he helped in improving the educational standard in the town and increasing the collection of municipal tax from 37% to 70%. In September 2009 he was attacked by unknown gunmen, but escaped unharmed. Fogel decided to resign in January 2012, months after a riot due to an arson at a town mosque committed by Jewish extremists.[6]

In August 2017 Fogel announced that he was running for the position of the head of the Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council as part of the 2018 Israeli municipal elections.[15] However he withdrew his candidacy in September 2018.[16]

In 2020, he joined the Israel Defense and Security Forum which advocates for the annexation of the Jordan Valley. He has supported shooting any Arab who throws stones at an IDF soldier, while being lenient towards Jews who do the same.[17][2]

He joined the Otzma Yehudit party in September 2022 and was placed tenth on the combined Religious Zionist Party-Otzma Yehudit list for the 2022 Israeli legislative election.[4] He became an MK following the election.[18]

In an interview with British broadcaster Channel 4 in December 2022, Fogel stated that Israel was too "merciful" towards Palestinians and "the concept of proportionality should cease to exist." He further asserted that "if it is [to choose between] one Israeli mother crying, or a thousand Palestinian mothers crying, then a thousand Palestinian mothers will cry."[19]

In February 2023, Fogel announced his support for reprisal attacks against Palestinian villages in retaliation for terror attacks. Speaking in favor of settler violence targeting the Palestinian town of Huwara, Fogel stated that, "A closed, burnt Huwara — that's what I want to see. That's the only way to achieve deterrence. After a murder like yesterday's, we need burning villages when the IDF doesn't act."[20] Fogel also stated, "We need to stop shying away from collective punishment."[21]

References

  1. ^ a b Tzvika Foghel, Knesset website entry (English version), accessed 13 Aug. 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Who are Itamar Ben-Gvir's fellow party members and what do they believe?". Walla!. The Jerusalem Post. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  3. ^ "חבר הכנסת צביקה פוגל". Knesset (in Hebrew). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Baruch, Hezki (7 September 2022). "Former IDF general Zvika Fogel joins Otzma Yehudit". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Ehrenfeld, Joseph (29 September 2022). "בן 65, נשוי לענת, אב לשלושה, סב לארבעה, תושב משמר הירדן, מועמד רשימת הציונות הדתית לכנסת". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g CoBen-Simhon (27 January 2012). "Alone at the top". Haaretz. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  7. ^ "חבר הכנסת צביקה פוגל". Knesset. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. ^ "אל תבקשו עזרה – תחליפו את ההנהגה". Walla! (in Hebrew). 29 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  9. ^ a b "תא"ל צביקה פוגל מצטרף לעוצמה יהודית. פוגל: "זכות גדולה"". 0404 News (in Hebrew). 7 September 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  10. ^ a b Amir Oren (11 September 2003). "שמונה אנשים ורשמקול". Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ^ Williams, Dan (24 March 2009). "General links Israeli tactics to Gaza civilian toll". Reuters. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  12. ^ "האם במבצע הבא יכבוש צה"ל את בית החולים שיפא?". Walla! (in Hebrew). 29 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  13. ^ Olsen, Frances (2019). "Law, Language and Justice". In Friedemann Vogel (ed.). Legal Linguistics Beyond Borders: Language and Law in a World of Media, Globalisation and Social Conflicts - Relaunching the International Language and Law Association (ILLA). Duncker & Humblot. p. 268. ISBN 9783428554232.
  14. ^ Nina Fox (2 November 2022). "השוטר לשעבר ומי שאמר "מיכאלי קנתה ילד באמזון": הח"כים החדשים של בן גביר". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  15. ^ Meir Janko (12 September 2017). "צביקה פוגל מתמודד: הפסיד את הראשות בבאר שבע ומאמין שינצח במבואות חרמון". New in Galilee (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  16. ^ Dodo Finian. "מבואות חרמון: צביקה פוגל הסיר את מועמדותו". Radio Kol Rega (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  17. ^ Nina Fox (28 October 2012). "זה שאמר "הומו זה בעיה" וזה שתומך בהרג זורקי אבנים: מועמדי "הציונות הדתית"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  18. ^ Bachner, Michael (15 November 2022). "As 25th Knesset sworn in, president urges MKs to end 'addiction' to toxic discourse". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  19. ^ "'A Thousand Palestinian Mothers Will Cry': Far-Right MK Gives Defiant Interview to British TV". Haaretz. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  20. ^ Bachner, Michael (27 February 2023). "'We need burning villages': Coalition lawmaker backs unprecedented settler rampage". Times of Israel. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  21. ^ Berger, Miriam; Rubin, Shira (27 February 2023). "'Israeli settlers rampage through Palestinian towns in revenge for shooting'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 February 2023.