Axel Springer Israel Site Promotes Firm That Used Genocidal Rhetoric

Yad2, the largest classifieds site in Israel and a subsidiary of German publishing giant Axel Springer, is hosting a real estate fair in Tel Aviv this weekend. The proceedings, which got underway Friday, were slated to showcase Israeli real estate firms, including both those that list properties within Israel’s internationally recognized borders and those that offer listings for Jewish-only settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

The website for the Yad2 fair features a host of Israeli real estate firms doing business in the West Bank, including Tanya Israel, currently marketing 32 housing units in Efrat; Ram Aderet, which is advertising a construction project in Ariel; and Oron, with its “expansion project” of 40 villas in Eshkolot.

Also being promoted by Yad2 for its involvement in the fair is the firm Harey Zahav, which was recently at the center of two international controversies linked to Israel’s war in Gaza. Harey Zahav operated a large booth at Yad2’s confab, complete with exposed wood rafters that resembled a real house under construction.

Critics have accused Harey Zahav of stoking some of the genocidal sentiments that landed Israel in the Hague’s International Court of Justice. In October, the firm shared an image on Instagram depicting a tank, alongside a quote from the Book of Deuteronomy: “Your God will deliver them up to you, throwing them into utter panic until they are wiped out” — from a chapter of Scripture widely interpreted to be God calling for the genocide of the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the Holy Land.

Harey Zahav also recently caused international uproar for publishing an ad, titled “A House on the Beach is not a Dream,” that photoshopped transparent housing units into a picture of war-ravaged homes in Gaza. “We at Harey Zahav are working to prepare the ground for a return to Gush Katif,” the ad said, referring to a cluster of settlements in southern Gaza dismantled during Israel’s evacuation in 2005. Another ad from the company listed “presale prices” on a map of lots in Gaza.

After widespread condemnation of the ads, Harey Zahav’s CEO Zeev Epshtein told Haaretz that the company’s ads were “a sort of satirical idea.” He did not offer any remarks about the ad with the genocidal Bible reference. (Harey Zahav did not respond to a request for comment.)

“It’s an apartheid culture. Nearly everything here is accepted these days.”

Dror Etkes, an expert on settlements, said the notion of rebuilding settlements in Gaza is far from mainstream political, though, in Israel. Nonetheless, the lack of attention paid to a large company like Yad2’s willingness to host Harey Zahav and companies doing business in West Bank settlements speaks to acceptance of radical politics in Israel.

“It’s an apartheid culture,” he said. “Nearly everything here is accepted these days.”

In a statement, Julia Sommerfeld, a spokesperson for Axel Springer, said, “Yad2 is organizing a trade fair at which more than 40 companies are represented, including all of Israel’s major real estate companies. As a direct competitor, our goal is not to promote the work of other companies, but to promote exchange within the industry.”

Israeli Far Right Empowered

Axel Springer, which also owns American media brands like Politico and Business Insider, makes money from the Yad2 classified site’s home sales and rentals in Jewish-only West Bank settlements, The Intercept previously reported. Yad2 publishes listings in the settlements as well as so-called settlement outposts, unauthorized even by Israeli legal standards. Yad2 lists over 1,000 paid ads from brokerage firms for settlement homes — which means revenue for its parent, Axel Springer.

“Yad2 operates fully in accordance with Israeli law,” said Sommerfeld, the Springer spokesperson. “Discrimination of any kind is strictly prohibited on the Yad2 platform. If users encounter individual ads that conflict with Yad2’s policies or applicable Israeli law, they are encouraged to report them. The relevant advertisements will then be checked and removed in the event of a violation.”

Satire or not on home listings in Gaza — “We want it to happen,” Epshtein, the CEO, said in an interview, “but it’s the state’s decision” — the website of Harey Zahav’s real estate business focuses on projects in Jewish-only West Bank settlements. Etkes pointed to the company’s proximity to the Israeli settler movement and the blessing it receives from the state.

“They require state authorization to build,” he said. “Even more so in the West Bank, where the vast majority of land has been expropriated from Palestinians and is controlled by Israel’s civil administration.”

The Gaza “satire” underscores the political empowerment of Israel’s right wing, and particularly the settler movement, after the October 7 attack by Hamas.