"There will be nothing to recognize until September"

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• Israeli journalist Avi Grintzajg caused a stir with a tweet about Palestine.
• He later said it was just satire. He used a well-known tactic: first provoke, then tone it down.
• Critics of his provocation say that he was openly admitting that there are also people in Israel who openly support the destruction of Palestine.

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The Israeli journalist Avi Grintzajg has triggered strong reactions with a post on X. The trigger was a political announcement from Great Britain: Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared that his country would recognize the state of Palestine at the end of September. The prerequisite was that Israel would take significant steps by then to end the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and make a clear commitment to lasting peace.

Grintzajg responded on Tuesday with a tweet in Hebrew: "That's okay, until September - with God's help - there will be nothing left to recognize." The post had been viewed over 3.9 million times by Thursday.

The reactions followed promptly. Numerous users accused Grintzajg of calling for the destruction of Palestine. Some even spoke of a "call for genocide". Others responded with openly anti-Semitic comments, including Holocaust comparisons and personal threats against Grintzajg.

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Journalist claims to have meant comment "cynically satirical"

The following day, Grintzajg tried to qualify his statement. The tweet was meant to be "cynical and satirical", he wrote. He was not referring to the physical destruction of people, but the impending collapse of Palestinian power structures - such as the Palestinian Authority or control by Hamas.

The outrage over his statement was deliberately created, Grintzajg continued. "Hamas supporters and collaborators" were deliberately taking his words out of context in order to defame him.

Rhetoric theory knows "provoke and relativize" tactics

The process is reminiscent of the Motte and Bailey argument - a rhetorical trick in which a provocative statement that is difficult to defend is made first. In this case, the allusion that there will no longer be a Palestinian state by September.

If this statement is criticized, the author retreats to a weaker, more harmless version - in this case, the explanation that all that was meant was the collapse of political structures. This strategy makes it possible to generate maximum attention and then defend oneself in a seemingly objective manner. However, the original provocation remains in the room - without the author having to seriously deal with its effect or responsibility.

Grintzajg later showed in an English-language post that the provocation was at least desired. In it, he thanked all the "terrorists, Nazis and Hamas lovers" who were "furious" about his tweet. This is how he was able to find out who he had to block on the social network.

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