Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to broadcast his speech at the United Nations into the Gaza Strip set off a political and military uproar in Israel on Friday, as the army admitted some loudspeakers were deployed inside Gaza despite Netanyahu’s public assurance they would remain on the Israeli side of the border.
Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Assur relayed the deployment order to soldiers Friday morning while they were meant to carry out an operational mission. The army said Assur left commanders with discretion to decide where to place the loudspeakers, even in areas away from Palestinian population centers, such as along the perimeter fence.
Trucks with speakers
Military officials explained the background to the unusual move: “This week, during a meeting with the defense minister and the chief of staff, the prime minister instructed that the IDF assist in projecting a video of atrocities at the UN. In addition, he requested that his speech be broadcast to Gaza residents above Hamas’ head, as a mission of influence and pressure. For us, it is a legitimate mission. Loudspeakers have already been used as a tool of influence in a variety of arenas.”
The army said Southern Command planned the task “like any operational mission — to ensure good sound quality.” Officials stressed that “everything is carried out from secure rear control lines. No loudspeaker truck enters combat zones. Four systems were set up in fortified positions in Gaza’s Sabra neighborhood, on the Gaza coast and in buffer zone outposts, with four more deployed inside Israeli territory. There is no order to hold fire during the prime minister’s speech so that Gazans can hear it.”
According to the IDF, Netanyahu’s demand to broadcast his remarks to Gaza came during a phone conversation Monday. The army requested that he put the order in writing. A total of nine loudspeaker systems were deployed. Some officers criticized the move, saying: “The goal is to film and show that there are loudspeakers in Gaza broadcasting the speech, and it is unfortunate that Southern Command is cooperating with this.”
The episode created confusion when both the army and the Prime Minister’s Office remained silent for four hours, even as military officials warned of risks to troops if systems were placed close to Palestinian population centers. Only after angry messages from families of hostages, parents of soldiers, and appeals to the defense minister, the chief of staff, the military advocate general and others did the Prime Minister’s Office issue a statement.
The statement said: “As part of the public diplomacy effort, the Prime Minister’s Office instructed civilian bodies, in cooperation with the IDF, to place loudspeakers on trucks only on the Israeli side of the Gaza border to broadcast Prime Minister Netanyahu’s historic speech today at the UN General Assembly. The prime minister explicitly instructed that this activity must not endanger IDF soldiers.”
The military, however, confirmed that loudspeakers were also positioned inside Gaza. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the order given to Southern Command called for sound systems mounted on trucks near the border fence, with one senior officer describing the purpose as “psychological warfare.”
The plan drew sharp reactions from hostage families. Lishi Miran Lavi, whose husband Omri is held in Gaza, appealed directly to Netanyahu before his office issued its response. “I heard that you placed loudspeakers across Gaza to speak to Gazans,” she said. “Instead of Gazans, I want to speak to those desperate for a voice of hope — the hostages and the soldiers. If the loudspeakers are already there, I would be glad to send a recording to Omri, so I can tell him and all the hostages and soldiers that the people of Israel are fighting for them and overwhelmingly want a deal to bring them home and end the fighting — and that we will not give up. Do you agree?”
Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan, also appealed: “Netanyahu, my son Matan and other hostages may hear you today. Any sentence other than ‘I came to the U.S. to sign a deal to bring you all home’ amounts to psychological abuse. Don’t break their hope if any is left.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid blasted the move: “Unfortunately for Netanyahu, he is not Kim Jong Un, and the Israeli army should not be broadcasting the ruler’s speeches over loudspeakers while endangering soldiers in the field. This is megalomaniacal madness unfit for a democratic country.”
Knesset member Efrat Rayten of the Democrats party formally demanded an official response from the IDF spokesperson and the military advocate general. She said her questions included whether there was an official request, whether the action endangered soldiers’ lives and what the implications were for the hostages. “This is an extraordinary event by all accounts,” Rayten said. “Clarification and answers are needed, and the public deserves to understand what lies behind this and what the implications are.”
The group Ima Eira (“Awake Mother”), representing mothers of soldiers, joined dozens of other parents in condemning the broadcast. “Placing the loudspeakers endangers our children’s lives,” they wrote in an appeal to the chief of staff and the defense minister. They also addressed Southern Command directly: “The responsibility for the soldiers’ lives is in your hands. You must not take part in this madness.”
Ilan Green, whose son was severely wounded in the Gaza war, also appealed to military leaders to stop the plan. “This is an immediate, tangible risk to soldiers’ lives,” he said. “It is a pointless publicity stunt that could result in the injury or death of heroic soldiers. In the army they call it a crazy idea. What kind of delusion is this?”