(CNN) The call by Israel’s far-right Treasury Secretary to “wipe out” a Palestinian town was harshly condemned on Wednesday by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who called the comments “disgusting” and “irresponsible.”
Bezalel Smotrich, who also heads the far-right Religious Zionism party, said earlier Wednesday that the Palestinian town of Huwara “must be wiped out.”
The inflammatory comment referred to the occupied West Bank town where two Israeli brothers were shot and killed on Sunday, prompting a killing spree through the area by Israeli Jewish settlers that has left at least one Palestinian dead, others injured and homes and Houses were left behind, cars were burned.
Smotrich was asked on Wednesday why he liked a post on Twitter after the brothers were shot but before the settlers’ rampage, and said Huwara should be deleted.
“I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out,” he told a reporter at a conference hosted by the Israeli business magazine The Marker. “I think the State of Israel needs to do this, and not – God forbid – private individuals.”
Price delivered a strong condemnation on Wednesday at the US State Department podium, saying, “I want to be very clear about this. These comments were irresponsible. They were repulsive. You were disgusting.”
“And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative statements, which also amount to incitement to violence,” he said at a State Department briefing.
Price also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and other senior Israeli officials to publicly and unequivocally deny and deny these comments.”
“We, as always, condemn terrorism and extremism in all its forms and continue to call for equal measures of accountability for extremist acts, regardless of the background of the perpetrators or victims,” he said.
Asked by CNN whether he would condemn Smotrich’s remarks after Price called for “public and unequivocal disavowal and disavowal of senior Israeli officials,” Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog said, “despite the fact that Israel recently faced a wave of horrific terrorist attacks against its civilian population, it is absolutely not Israeli policy and it is against our values to respond by wiping out civilian villages.”
Smotrich is expected to visit Washington and New York City in March but has not scheduled meetings with Biden administration officials, a source told CNN.
‘Pogrom’
The top Israeli general in the West Bank, Yehuda Fuchs, described the actions of the Israeli settlers on Tuesday evening as a “pogrom”.
Major General Fuchs said Tuesday night that Israeli forces were not adequately prepared for the revenge attacks that followed Sunday’s killing of the Yaniv brothers in the city.
“We did not prepare for a pogrom on the scale of dozens of people coming with incendiary devices…they go and randomly set fire to Palestinian homes, vehicles, etc. — just indiscriminate terror,” Fuchs said, unusually bluntly in remarks by an Israeli military official who criticized Israeli settlers.
“This event in Huvara is a pogrom committed by outlaws,” he said, using a word that originally meant organized riots against Jews in Imperial Russia.
Palestinians have accused the IDF of attacking or siding with Palestinians and allowing the settlers to riot.
But Fuchs said the Israeli Defense Forces intervened in Huwara to protect Palestinians from settlers, who clashed not only with Palestinians but also with Israeli troops and police.
“Soldiers from the Golani reconnaissance unit opened fire on Israelis, outlaws who nearly killed Palestinians,” he said.
The IDF has sent four additional battalions into the area since Sunday to “de-escalate” the situation and keep Israeli settlers and Palestinians separate, they announced.
Six other people were arrested Tuesday night in connection with the Huwara unrest, Israel Police said on Wednesday – four adults and two minors.
“These suspects were arrested on suspicion of their involvement in violent riots, arson, assault and causing damage in Huwara,” said a police statement, which said they are suspects, “vehicles and buildings on fire.” to have attacked Palestinians and caused damage. “
“The investigation is ongoing and further arrests are expected,” the statement said.
Eight people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the unrest earlier in the week, at least two of whom are now under house arrest, Israeli police said earlier.