Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused two million Palestinians living in Gaza of having a “desire to slaughter, rape, and murder Jews,” in a defense of Palestinian displacement against US backlash on Wednesday morning.
The US State Department on Tuesday slammed recent statements from Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir that advocated for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, calling the rhetoric “inflammatory and irresponsible.”
The finance minister, one of the senior figures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, had called on Sunday for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the besieged enclave, making way for Israelis who could “make the desert bloom.
“Let’s think out of the box,” urged Smotrich. “If in Gaza there will be 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs and not 2 million the entire conversation on ‘the day after’ will look different,” he said.
Ben-Gvir: Israel not another star on US flag
Ben-Gvir defended his comments in a reaction to the American statement late on Tuesday on X, writing that the government “will do what is best for the State of Israel.
“I deeply appreciate the United States of America, but with all due respect, we are not just another star on the American flag,” Ben-Gvir wrote. “The US is a close ally, but above all else, we will do what is best for the State of Israel.”
מעריך מאוד את ארצות הברית של אמריקה אבל עם כל הכבוד אנחנו לא עוד כוכב בדגל האמריקאי. ארצות הברית היא ידידתנו הטובה אך לפני הכל נעשה מה שטוב למדינת ישראל: הגירת מאות אלפים מעזה תאפשר לתושבי העוטף לחזור הביתה ולחיות בביטחון ותשמור על חיילי צה”ל.
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) January 2, 2024
The national security minister continued, arguing that the “emigration of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will allow the residents of the Gaza border communities to return home with security.”
Ben-Gvir added that the move will also “protect IDF soldiers.”
Smotrich also reacted to the statement on Wednesday morning, claiming that “70% of Israelis today support the humanitarian solution of encouraging emigration of Gazans.
“A small country such as ours cannot allow itself a reality in which a hotbed for hate and terror exists four minutes from our communities,” Smotrich wrote. “Two million people wake up every morning with a desire to destroy the State of Israel and slaughter, rape, and murder Jews.”
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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