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Martina Navratilova has criticized Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli government for their strategy in the war with Hamas in Gaza. Navratilova has been a critic of Israel since the war intensified in October 2023, when militant Palestinians crossed into Israel and allegedly killed over a thousand Israeli party-goers.
Navratilova is a respected liberal voice in the US and around the world. The 18-time Major champion regularly uses her various social media platforms to speak out on a range of social issues, including women's rights and LGBTQ+ matters. She also often comments on what she perceives to be the injustices of the new Donald Trump administration.
Martina Navratilova responded on her X account to a United Nations story reported on X by former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth. Roth suggested that, in his view, Netanyahu's strategy in Gaza amounts to "war-crime starvation" and summarized the story in his own words:
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"Israel's near two-month ban on humanitarian aid and supplies entering Gaza -- Netanyahu's war-crime starvation strategy -- is driving families to the edge of survival, as critical essentials – including food, shelter and medicine – are rapidly running out."
An incensed Navratilova added her own view to Roth's as she wrote:
"If this is not genocide, what is it?"
Martina Navratilova has 457,000 followers on X and 119,000 Instagram devotees. The tennis icon has a committed audience as a result of her sporting fame and joins fellow tennis legends like Rennae Stubbs, who also use their public platforms to air their political grievances.
Martina Navratilova is a long-term critic of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Gaza war
Martina Navratilova has criticized Benjamin Netanyahu before. In her view, the Israeli Prime Minister's close allegiance to the Trump administration and Donald Trump's very public support for Israeli actions in Gaza spell doom for the region. In 2023, immediately after Israel sent troops into Gaza in retaliation for the October attack, Navratilova expressed her view of Netanyahu as she wrote on X:
"Netanyahu is evil. Right up there with Trump, Kim Jong Un etc..."
Navratilova spent 332 weeks as the World No. 1 in the 1970s and 1980s. She claimed 167 singles titles and 59 other Majors, including doubles and mixed doubles. The Czech-born naturalized US citizen is regarded by many as the greatest-ever player in the women's game.
