Former Bellator fighter Haim Gozali takes credit for missile with Kanye West's name amid ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict
Haim Gozali has seemingly taken credit for a missile with Kanye West's name on it. Gozali, a 50-year-old MMA fighter, is best known for his time in the Bellator MMA organization.
Gozali (15-6 MMA, 2-0 bare-knuckle boxing) has lately made headlines owing to his socio-political assertions regarding the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict.
On October 7, 2023, multiple Palestinian militant groups launched a surprise invasion against the nation of Israel. At the center of the attack was a military operation referred to as 'Al-Aqsa Flood' aka 'Al-Aqsa Storm.'
It was spearheaded by the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization, Hamas. Over 2,000 rockets were launched at Israel during the attack. Besides, Palestinian forces targeted a number of Israeli civilian areas and military establishments.
Members of Palestinian militant organizations such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas orchestrated the attack from the Gaza Strip. They killed over 1,200 people in Israel and claimed to have taken hundreds of people hostage on their way back to Gaza.
In response, Israel declared war against Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted multiple airstrikes in Gaza. They've deployed forces to fight Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on the ground as well. Meanwhile, the Palestinian side continues combating Israel with rocket attacks and ground offensives.
An IDF veteran, Haim Gozali has been incredibly vocal in his support for his native Israel. Speaking of which, American hip-hop icon megastar and Hollywood personality Kanye West aka Ye has now found himself in the crosshairs of Gozali. West has made a significant amount of anti-Semitic statements since 2022 and has been condemned for the same. The rapper recently apologized for it.
Moreover, as reported by 102.5 The Block, Haim Gozali recently tweeted an image of an IDF missile with Kanye West's name written on it. The writing on the missile read as follows:
"Kanye West flying to Gaza Haim Gozali"
The consensus is that Gozali's jibe at West is due to the latter's incendiary remarks against Jewish people and Israel. Alluding to West's controversial comments, in a statement attached to the tweet, the former Bellator fighter wrote:
"@kanyewest you don’t like us jewish. So we don’t like you too !!!"
Haim Gozali faces criticism due to alleged anti-Islam stance
Amid the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict, Haim Gozali faced punitive measures by having his main X account suspended due to alleged anti-Islamic posts. Gozali made social media posts featuring images of IDF missiles with the names of Muslim UFC fighters -- Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Belal Muhammad, and Khamzat Chimaev -- written on them.
The four aforementioned UFC fighters have consistently expressed their support for Palestine in the Israel-Hamas conflict aka Israel-Palestine conflict.
Gozali's critics have lambasted him for making violent insinuations, as he'd posted the images featuring the fighters' names on missiles. Alternatively, his supporters argue that he was simply supporting his nation and jabbed specifically at the UFC fighters rather than their religion as a whole.