State Department Spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday slammed Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich who said on Wednesday that the village of Huwara should be “wiped out.”
When asked about Huwara at an economic conference, Smotrich responded that he thinks the village should be wiped out. “The State of Israel should do this…chas v’chalilah that it should be carried out by private citizens…we shouldn’t be dragged into anarchy in which citizens take the law into their own hands,” he said.
Smotrich was referring to the fact that Huwara is a hotbed of terrorism. Jews living in Yehudah and Shomron, who must travel through the village on a daily basis as a major road, Route 60, passes through the town, come under frequent attack. Hillel and Yigal Yaniv, h’yd, were murdered as they passed through the town on Sunday afternoon and overnight Sunday, dozens of Jews rioted in Huwara and set properties on fire.
“I want to be very clear about this,” Price said at a State Department press briefing. “These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting. And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence.”
After his words caused an uproar, Smotrich stated: “In order to avoid doubt, I didn’t mean to wipe out the village of Huwara, but only to act in a targeted manner against the terrorists and supporters of terrorism in it and exact a heavy price in order to restore security to the residents of the area.”
Smotrich’s clarification did not satisfy the J Street organization, which called on the Biden administration to reexamine Smotrich’s right to an entry visa to the US. Smotrich is scheduled to travel to the US this month to speak at an Israel Bonds conference in Washington from March 12-14.
“Especially as the Israeli official who just assumed primary authority over the occupied West Bank, Smotrich’s comments are an unconscionable threat of further violence against a Palestinian community that just suffered a deadly pogrom at the hands of Israeli settlers. Smotrich’s half-hearted attempt to walk back his remarks does not undo the damage of this incitement,” J Street said in a statement.
“The Biden administration should not only condemn Smotrich’s threats and incitement, but also ensure that no US government officials will legitimize his extremism by meeting with him, either in the United States or elsewhere. They should make clear that Smotrich’s comments and actions are immensely damaging to the US-Israel relationship. Additionally, the administration should make clear that comments promoting grave violations of human rights, such as those made by Smotrich, are grounds for re-examination of a visa for entry to the United States.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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18 Responses
America READ MY LIPS….Blink…..
“Smotrich’s comments and actions are immensely damaging to the US-Israel relationship” no J-Street comments and actions are immensely damaging to the US-Israel relationship!
“a Palestinian community that just suffered a deadly pogrom at the hands of Israeli settlers” and Israeli citizens suffer daily terrorism at the hand of Palestinians
But when terror happens and innocent people are cut down – even children – and America says not a word, their credibility is totally lost.
As a client state of the Americans, Israeli officials need to remember that they need to keep their patron’s favor. It’s not like Israel is an sovereign independent country.
There is no Daas Torah that would support a statement like that.
Israel needs to take a stand and do what is is supposed to do to protect their citizens
The problem is that Israel doesn’t have a clear stand on terrorism, as American MONEY is more important to some of them, this weakness is how the American liberals take advantage of Jewish blood
When ned price ימח שמו וזכרונו opens the trap on his face with evil words against our venerated admired Smotrich, this is the best proof, how fortunate & blessed we are to have the amazing caliber of Smotrich in our 🇮🇱 government, and an incredible endorsement for Smotritch to keep up his wonderful brilliant agenda
The problem is that “free press” means the press is free to write whatever it they want with an iot of accountability. Isreal – stupid Israel – allows for that. If they clamped down to require the press to have their stories cleared – a la sensorship and the way security works at the airports – the world would not know any false reporting. The 45th president called it Fake News! He’s got a point!
They should force him to resign immediately from his position such violent language and dangerous rhetoric would only cause more barbaric terrorism from the Arab countries and the Arabs in Israel. So far since the beginning of the intifada Israel is at a loss for every terrorist that they eliminate the Arabs kill several Jews just make a calculation of how many Jews were killed and injured from the beginning of the intifada until today. There is no easy solution for the situation that is going on in Israel with the Arab citizens this is one of the reasons that many big rabbis a hundred years ago were terribly against the idea of forming a Jewish nation there is no way that Israel can easily solve this problem we are still in the gallot and we are a sheep between 70 wolves and the sheep has to be very careful how he expresses himself not to antagonize the wolves. Bottom line he has to resign immediately after such a terrible error
But yet this unelected democrat has still NEVER called out Mr. Abbas and his “pay to slay” program. He has NEVER commented on the Palestinians celebrating and giving out candies after one of their terrorists murders innocent AMERICAN Jews.
Let me hear that same cry when the quad squad, the neo nazi group and the kkk spew their hate. I thought I heard Israel making a מחאה last Shabbos when they said the 25th was declared a day of hate! Not a word! Not a word! So duplicitous!
Hashem runs the world period……America is the New Germany….the rest you can add yourselves
Ask him to state exactly what was disgusting
you can not just say something and not mean it because they cause pain
Now that you mentioned the word “disgusting”, let me tell YOU the definition of that word.
The US government passed a law saying that it is 100% legal to download or upload any video in the world and a child at the age of 1 year old till 120 years it is 100% permissible to watch every single movie or video that any person on this planet uploaded into the internet. I call that
REALLY DISGUSTING AND IRRESPONSIBLE.
If everyone would of listened to many Rabanim many years ago, that all the frum jews should come home to Eretz Hakodesh, then we would of been able to form a frum state, and run it like that, or year’s later when Hakodosh Reb, Mayer Kahane suggested we should give the Arabs land outside of Eretz Hakodesh, he said the day will come when all our Arab neighbors will stand up against us, but no one wanted to listen to him, if we can find a way to do it today we should do it.
Little known fact. J street stands for Jihadi Street.
They give out sweets, shoot off fireworks and dance in the street when they murder little children by crushing them to death with cars. I am surprised that it took this long for the Israeli people to take direct action. I am sick of people who say “Jews have to be better”. Right. Better and deader. Why doesn’t the US condemn all the buildings named after “martyrs” who have murdered, maimed, and destroyed families? For those who are still too slow to follow it is the leftist Jews in Israel who are inciting the US government. Huwara is a nest of vipers that constitute a lethal threat to innocent Jews. You can’t fight fair with an enemy that does not!