Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned on Monday of a growing process of “brutalization” within Israeli society, prompting a harsh response from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and exposing widening political divisions, Anadolu reports.

Speaking during the 2026 Quds Unity Prize ceremony at the Presidential Residence in Quds, Herzog said Israeli society is experiencing a dangerous increase in violence. and dehumanization.

“I would like to talk today only about unity,” said Herzog, who added: “But to my great sadness, we are living in days in which violence is not the only thing that is rising.”

He warned that a “terrible process of brutalization” is spreading from the fringes of Israeli society and is in danger of becoming normalized.

“It is a slow and disturbing process, a process that threatens to enter the mainstream of Israeli society, and we will not allow it,” he added.

As examples of the growing violence, Herzog cited the rising murder rate among Arab citizens in Israel and attacks carried out by what he described as an “illegal mob” in the occupied West Bank.

Herzog’s remarks drew immediate criticism from Ben-Gvir, whose actions against participants in of a Gaza-bound flotilla, held in Israeli custody, have caused widespread global condemnation.

Ben-Gvir, accused the president of Israel of insulting Israeli citizens.

“A president who calls hundreds of thousands of citizens of the State of Israel beasts is not fit to be president. Period,” Ben-Gvir wrote in a post on the platform of the American social media company X.

Legislators from the Party Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power also criticized Herzog’s comments, accusing him of further deepening political divisions within Israeli society.

Source: prizrenpost