A leaked recording has revealed that Roet, who is Israel’s ambassador to Austria, insisted that Palestinian minors in Gaza should be put to death if they are spotted carrying a weapon.
RT reports: The secret two-minute recording, dated March 20, apparently captures a closed-door meeting Roet held with the local Jewish community in Innsbruck. In the clip, the envoy can be heard dismissing reports of civilian casualties in the Palestinian enclave, stating “if you’re believing that Israel is targeting babies intentionally, [this] is not correct.”
He then notes that “there are no uninvolved in Gaza.” “There should be a death sentence to be killed off… In war, if you hold a gun, even if you are a 16-year-old… [or] a child, a 17-year-old, [who] holds a grenade,” he adds.
"I will play golf in #Gaza whether you like it or not" - Former Consul Wiehl-Volgger during visit of Israeli Amb. Roet
— 🍉 ronnie barkan (@ronnie_barkan) March 22, 2025
"I felt sickened by the calm in Mr. Roet's voice," says the activist who took the video. "No one intervened when Roet suggested the death penalty for children." pic.twitter.com/ELEps9q6x6
Roet then warns that should the EU be “crazy enough” to invest in rebuilding Gaza, Israel would have to “destroy” it once again.
In a statement circulated on social media, the activist who recorded the meeting and whose name is unknown condemned the ambassador’s remarks, stating: “I felt sickened by the calm in Mr. Roet’s voice as he made these statements. No one intervened when he suggested the death penalty for children.”
He also suggested that “this makes me think how corrupted the issue is when people with the power to change something suggest committing war crimes as a solution.”
Roet has yet to comment on the recording.