One has to compare Palestinians in the West Bank to prisoners, to understand how Israel is not an apartheid state for denying them freedom of movement in order to preserve Jewish life, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit Party) said on Sunday.
“What is a prison? In a prison I take a human being and deny him his civil rights so that the rest of society will be run in a better way,” he told Hebrew language news outlet Ynet when interviewed by their studio.
“The moment a person threatens my right to life, I reduce his rights slightly and allow the normative person to operate,” he said.
Is this apartheid? Israeli minister says no, it’s a prison
Journalist Attila Somfalvi pushed him on the point, noting that for some this was “apartheid?”
Eliyahu said, “What apartheid? we are talking about prison.”
An activist from Amnesty International UK poses outside Downing Street wearing a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in London, Britain, March 23, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/HENRY NICHOLLS)Somfalvi asked, “What prison? You are referencing the territories, are you saying Judea and Samaria is a prison?”
Eliyahu retorted, “When you go to a prison and there is a prisoner there, you reduce his rights. Is that apartheid?”
Eliyahu spoke out after the head of his party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir came under fire for pushing for additional restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement in the West Bank after three Israelis were killed in two terror attacks last week.
In an interview with Channel 12 last week, Ben-Gvir said, “My right and that of my wife and my children, to travel on the roads in Judea and Samaria, is more important than the freedom of movement for Arabs.”
The European Union and the State Department condemned his words, with the State Department calling them “racist rhetoric.” Other critics said it was poof that Israel was in fact an apartheid state.
Eliyahu told Ynet that the comments were taken out of context.
“Why don’t we open our borders so that anyone who wants to come here from Egypt and Lebanon can enter?
“When there is a hostile population that carries out thousands of terrorist attacks and does not block them, then I say with great regret, I will slightly reduce the rights of those people who harm us, so that normal people can continue to drive on the roads,” he explained.
“This is a well-known democratic logic. Once the Arabs lay down their weapons, then there will be peace here and they will be able to drive freely.”
MK Ahmad Tibi (Hadash Ta’al) retorted on X, previously Twitter, “Shame, it continues: Another racist but frank minister from Ben-Gvir’s party: Minister Amihai Eliyahu compares the occupied West Bank to a prison but explains that ‘prisons are not apartheid.’”
Prior to the government meeting on Sunday, Ben-Gvir doubled down on his statements and attacked the Left for helping the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement slander Israel.
“It turns out that the extreme left in Israel has no borders and in order to harm Itamar Ben-Gvir they are ready to discredit Israel around the world, twist things, give fuel to BDS,” he said. “I repeat and I will also fight and fight for what I say, and it is very simple – the right to life prevails over the right to freedom of movement, I said it and I continue to say it.”
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