According to the US State Department, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for the “erasure” of a Palestinian community constituted a call for violence, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must officially deny it.
In response to a recent wave of Israeli violence in the West Bank under occupation, Smotrich, an ideologue in Netanyahu’s far-right government, made the remarks on Wednesday at a conference.
Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, called for the “erasure” of a Palestinian hamlet in remarks that were deemed “unwise,” according to a representative for the State Department named Ned Price. “They were repugnant. They were disgusting.”
Price further added, “And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence.”
Price confirmed that the remark amounted to encouraging violence and demanded that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, publicly apologise.
Smotrich responded, “I think that Huwara ought to be erased,” when asked about an unlawful settler assault through the Palestinian town of Huwara over the weekend that an Israeli general on Tuesday called a “pogrom.”
Smotrich stated, “I think that the state of Israel needs to do it, but God forbid not individual people.”
Ten persons have been detained by Israeli police on suspicion of taking part in the Huwara incident, which resulted in the death of one Palestinian.
One Palestinian was murdered by Israeli troops on Wednesday, while six others were detained on suspicion of taking part in the deadly shooting of an Israeli-American on Monday in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
Smotrich released a statement after making the Huwara remarks claiming the media had misconstrued him, but he did not revoke his support for the eradication of the community.
I mentioned how Hawara is a hostile community that has evolved into a terrorist stronghold where everyday attacks on Jews are launched, said Mr Smotrich, adding that it was against the law to enforce one’s laws.
