Putting Out International Anger, Israeli PM Calls His Minister's Comments On Eligible Elimination Of Palestinian Villages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Wikimedia Commons/kmu.gov.ua/men's

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday described a statement by a key Cabinet ally calling for Palestinian villages to be removed as inappropriate, seeking to quell international outrage.

In a Twitter thread, PM Netanyahu thanked Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for "clarifying" previous comments calling for the demolition of the West Bank village of Hawara.

However, he has also stood up to criticism of Smotrich, accusing foreign powers of trivializing Palestinian violence, such as the February 26 killing of two Israelis in the village of Hawara that sparked a settler rampage there, as well as fending off increasing domestic and international criticism of the agenda of his new right-wing government.

PM Netanyahu also called for calm, after mass protests across the country that are already in their ninth week.

"While some forms of protest are legal, we are seeing that many are taking the law into their own hands," he said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, reported by The National News March 6.

"They want to make the government collapse and give rise to a constitutional crisis. I call on the opposition to join me in trying to de-escalate tensions," he continued.

חשוב ששר האוצר סמוטריץ׳ הבהיר שלא הייתה לו שום כוונה לפגיעה בחפים מפשע או לענישה קולקטיבית. אני מכיר את עמדותיו והן השתקפו בהבהרתו. אף אחד מאיתנו לא חף מטעויות, כולל לא דיפלומטים זרים >>

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 4, 2023

Earlier, Smotrich came under widespread criticism after last Wednesday saying, "The village of Hawara needs to be exterminated. I think the State of Israel needs to do that, no, God forbid, private individuals".

The comments came after Israeli settlers went on a rampage in the city by setting fire to Palestinian homes and property, killing one person and injuring dozens. The attack, which was described by a prominent Israeli general as a "pogrom", came after the killing of two Israeli settlers.

After widespread backlash at home and abroad, Smotrich said it was possible his comments weren't the right choice of words. He added that he was "on the wrong tongue in a torrent of emotion".

The US State Department said the remarks were abhorrent, facing calls to deny Smotrich entry into the country.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said it "affirmed the kingdom's complete rejection of these racist and irresponsible remarks, which reflect the amount of violence and extremist (behavior) practiced by the Israeli occupation entity against its Palestinian brethren".

But in a series of tweets released on Sunday morning, Netanyahu continued to criticize the Palestinian Authority (PA) for not condemning the killing of two brothers that sparked the Hawara attack which was carried out by around 400 settlers.

"I am still waiting to hear the condemnation of the Palestinian Authority for the killing of the two Yaniv brothers," he wrote.

"And Israel is waiting for the international community to insist that the PA condemns the attack. Not only has it not done so, Israel has also continued to turn a blind eye to the PA's rampant incitement, to the disgusting spectacle of Palestinians handing out candy to celebrate the terror attack on Jews. and the PA's official pay-to-kill policy, in which the PA pays terrorists to kill Jews. The silence of the international community in the face of Palestinian support for terrorism must finally end."