Palestinian Prime Minister Rejects Israeli Finance Minister’s Statements

Yesterday, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh denounced far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s statements about the non-existence of the Palestinian people as “incitement” and “convincing evidence of extremist Zionist ideology.” Shtayyeh said: “These inflammatory statements are consistent with the first Zionist sayings: ‘A land without a people for a people without a land’ and that the Palestinian territories are (disputed) and that they are the promised land … unreliable and false claims.” Smotrich said in Paris on Sunday, during a celebration of the death of a Franco-Israeli activist close to Israeli right Jacques Kupfer, “there are no Palestinians because there is no Palestinian people,” according to a video clip that was circulated on social media. “After 2,000 years of exile, the people of Israel will return to their homes,” added Smotrich, who drew an uproar and international condemnation almost three weeks ago after calling for the “wipe out” of the Palestinian city of Hawara. He continued: “There are Arabs around them who don’t like it… They invented an imaginary people and demand imaginary rights in the Land of Israel just to fight the Zionist movement.” He added: “It’s historical truth, it’s biblical truth… that Arabs in Israel need to hear, as well as some Jews who are skeptical of Israel. This truth needs to be heard here at the Elysee Palace and at the White House in Washington, and everyone needs to hear this truth because it is the truth.” Smotrich made his statement at a time when negotiations were underway in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to restore calm between the Israeli-Palestinian parties. Shtayeh believed that the Israeli finance minister’s statements reflected “an arrogance of power and an arrogance that will not shake our belonging to our land and our history.” The Palestinian Prime Minister stressed that Israel is “a colonial state, created by colonizers and settlers and expanding like any settler colonialism throughout history.” On his Twitter account, Smotrich called for the “erasing” of the Palestinian city of Hawara in the north of the occupied West Bank, before withdrawing after his post was widely condemned internationally. The city was the site of a Palestinian shelling that killed two Israelis. As a result, dozens of settlers attacked the city of Hawara and burned several houses and dozens of cars.