Middle East Eye / March 1, 2023
Far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich says the state should destroy the Palestinian town, not civilians.
Israeli far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Wednesday that the state of Israel should “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwwara in the wake of a violent rampage through it by Jewish settlers on Sunday.
Speaking at a forum hosted by The Marker business newspaper, Smotrich – who is responsible for Israel’s civil administration in the occupied West Bank – said: “The Palestinian village of Huwwara should be wiped out. The state needs to do it and not private citizens.”
At least one Palestinian was killed and nearly 400 were wounded in settler attacks on Huwwara town and other West Bank towns and villages in the Nablus area on Sunday.
Hundreds of settlers, flanked by soldiers, attacked Palestinian towns and villages near Nablus following a shooting that killed two Israelis in Huwwara town earlier in the day.
Before and after the mob violence took place, several Israeli politicians – including Smotrich – seemed to encourage or support the settlers’ actions.
Smotrich liked a tweet that called for Israeli politicians to show no mercy and that the “village of Huwwara should be erased today”.
His comments on Wednesday were made in defence of that liked tweet, which was posted by David Ben Zion, the deputy head of the Samaria Council that governs illegal settlements in the northern West Bank. Ben Zion has since deleted the tweet and claimed it was written “in the heat of the moment”.
‘Inducing war crimes’
Smotrich took to Twitter on Sunday while attacks were ongoing to promote a thread that recommended the “collective punishment of the terrorist’s family and environment as an effective and necessary tool in asymmetric warfare”.
Collective punishment of occupied populations is illegal under international law.
He also demanded that the Israeli army “hit Palestinian cities, with tanks and helicopters, mercilessly, in a way that would convey that the owner of the house has gone mad”.
A group of 22 Israeli legal experts on Tuesday called on the attorney general to investigate comments made by the Smotrich and other pro-settler government MPs for “inducing war crimes” over their public support for the violent riots.
Hady Amr, US special representative for Palestinian affairs, condemned the “wide scale, indiscriminate violence” by settlers after visiting Huwwara.
“We want to see full accountability and legal prosecution of those responsible for these heinous attacks and compensation for those who lost property or were otherwise affected,” Amr said.
On Tuesday, former Israeli Defence minister Benny Gantz said that Smotrich was supporting the settler violence and “wants to cause another Palestinian Nakba”.
The Nakba, which means “the catastrophe” in Arabic, is the name given to the massacres and forced expulsion Palestinians endured at the hands of Zionist militias in 1948, as the new Israeli state came into existence. It left an estimated 15,000 Palestinians dead and some 750,000 fled from their homes.
______
US condemns Smotrich’s ‘repugnant, disgusting’ call for Israel to wipe out Huwwara
MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / March 1, 2023
State Department spokesperson calls on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to disavow Smotrich’s remarks.
The US on Wednesday condemned the comments made by Israel’s finance minister in which he called for the Palestinian village of Huwwara to be “wiped out”, and said the remarks were “repugnant, irresponsible and disgusting”.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials to “publicly and clearly” disavow Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s comments.
“I want to be very clear about this. These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting,” Price told reporters on Wednesday.
“And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Smotrich, who in addition to being finance minister is responsible for Israel’s civil administration in the occupied West Bank, said Israel should “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwwara in the wake of a violent rampage by Jewish settlers on Sunday.
“The Palestinian village of Huwwara should be wiped out. The state needs to do it and not private citizens,” he said.
According to Axios, Smotrich later walked back the comments. In a statement, he blamed the media for manipulating his comments and said he did not want to wipe Huwwara off the map, but wanted to act “in a surgical way” against “terrorists” in the village to restore security.
Smotrich is expected to visit the US later this month and will meet with the New York-based Israel Bonds organization.
He does not have any meetings scheduled with the Biden administration, and two US officials told Axios that “even if he asked for meetings with Biden officials, he likely wouldn’t get them”.
US condemns ‘wide scale’ violence in Huwwara
On Sunday, hundreds of settlers, flanked by soldiers, attacked Palestinian towns and villages near Nablus, following a shooting that killed two Israelis in the town of Huwwara earlier that day.
In the rampage on Huwwara and other Palestinian villages, at least one Palestinian was killed and nearly 400 were wounded. Israel’s police have arrested 10 people for suspected involvement in the attack.
Before and after the mob violence took place, several Israeli politicians, including Smotrich, appeared to encourage or support the settlers’ actions.
Smotrich liked a tweet that called for Israeli politicians to show no mercy and that the “village of Huwwara should be erased today”.
On Tuesday, former Defence minister Benny Gantz said Smotrich wanted “another Nakba”, a term that describes the massacres and forced expulsion Palestinians endured at the hands of Zionist militias in 1948, as the new Israeli state came into existence.
Hady Amr, US special representative for Palestinian affairs, condemned the “wide scale, indiscriminate violence” by settlers after visiting Huwwara, and said that he wanted to see “full accountability and legal prosecution” of the settlers responsible for the mob violence.
Also on Tuesday, a group of 22 Israeli legal experts called on the attorney general to investigate Smotrich’s comments, as well as remarks by other pro-settler government MPs.
