Israel’s right-wing finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has denied the existence of the Palestinian people. “There is no Palestinian because there is no Palestinian people,” he said at an event in Paris last night, according to media reports.
It was invented by “some Arabs in the region to fight the Zionist movement”. This “historical truth” must be heard around the world, Smotritsch said.
“There is no Palestinian history”
“There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language,” continued Smotrich in the speech, which was delivered in Hebrew. He added that people like him and his grandparents are the “real Palestinians”, noting that his family has lived in the region for 13 generations. Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir made a similar statement decades ago.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry spoke of Smotrich’s inflammatory statements as “racist, fascist and extremist” and promoting a further escalation in the region.
Smotritsch recently caused international outrage with remarks about the small Palestinian town of Huwara. After a deadly attack on Israelis, the politician demanded that the state “delete” the site. He later distanced himself from these statements.
Restructuring of the Judiciary: Government announces changes
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government announced modifications to the planned judicial restructuring following violent trials. The changes affect, among other things, the body that will select judges in the future. In addition, most bills in Parliament are expected to be postponed until the end of April.
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