Israeli soldiers hotline controversy

The story so far

The New Zealand Jewish Council called for a police investigation into a 'genocide hotline' promoted by activist John Minto, which the Palestine Solidarity Network was using to report sightings of Israeli soldiers holidaying in New Zealand.^{28 Jan 2025} Minto responded that Israeli soldiers were not welcome in New Zealand.^{28 Jan 2025} Police were investigating threatening social media messages linked to the hotline, which was mentioned in a network leaflet and aimed to track Israeli soldiers and reservists holidaying in New Zealand.^{29 Jan 2025} Separately, Foreign Minister Winston Peters labelled as fake news a claim, shared by US Senator Ted Cruz, that all Israelis must detail military service to visit New Zealand.^{1 Feb 2025} New Zealand diplomats in the United States contacted the Senator's office to clarify the country's actual immigration requirements.^{1 Feb 2025}

Latest

On 1 February, Peters publicly challenged Cruz's visa claims, and diplomats moved to correct the record with the Senator's office.^{1 Feb 2025}

Key moments

1. 28 Jan 2025Jewish Council calls for police investigation into genocide hotline
2. 29 Jan 2025Police investigate threatening social media messages linked to hotline
3. 1 Feb 2025Peters labels Ted Cruz's Israeli visa claims fake news

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.