Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh calls ” arsonists statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Passing through France on Sunday March 19, the latter declared “ there are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people “. New controversial remarks from one of the most contested members of the Israeli government.
It is to pay tribute to a deceased that Bezalel Smotrich stopped in Paris this Sunday, March 19. The Israeli Minister of Finance was invited to a ceremony in memory of Jacques Kupfer, who died in 2021 after having long represented the ideas of the Israeli right in France. “Private Tour” repeated in recent days the Embassy of Israel in Paris, “private event” assured the organizers. Namely, the association Israel is For Everwhich intends to work towards mobilization of French-speaking Zionist forces » and claims « a sovereign Jewish state over the whole expanse of its land that is, including the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel.
The announcement of the presence in Paris of Bezalel Smotrich, who chairs the Religious Zionism party, having prompted calls to demonstrate, the organizers had to change rooms for this evening, the address of which was very discreetly distributed to the guests only during the day of Sunday. All this against the backdrop of rumors of the visit being cancelled.
This completely new climate for the visit of an Israeli minister is explained by the radical positions of Bezalel Smotrich, who has sat since the beginning of the year in the most right-wing government in the history of Israel. And it was in a room near the Champs-Élysées, in front of an audience of around 400 people according to the organizers, that Bezalel Smotrich finally spoke.
“ There is pace of Palestinians, because there is no Palestinian people “says the Minister
” There are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people “, said the latter, quoting the words of Jacques Kupfer (former president of the French branches of the Israeli Likud party and the Betar movement, both right-wing), to which the evening was devoted.
” It is the historical truth, it is the biblical truth (…) and this truth, the Arabs in Israel must hear it as well as certain Jews (…) in Israel, this truth must be heard here in the palace of the Élysée, and at the White House in Washington, and everyone must hear this truth, because it is the truth continued the Israeli minister, whose desk was adorned with a map of a “Greater Israel” including present-day Jordan in addition to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel’s internationally recognized borders.
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In recent weeks, Bezalel Smotrich had already called for “ to shave » the Palestinian village of Huwarain the north of the West Bank, before going back on his remarks, which France had then judged “ unworthy ” And ” irresponsible “. The French authorities claim to have had no contact with Bezalel Smotrich during his recent stay.
Embarrassing visit for Jewish institutions in France
In February 2022, the latter had been received at the National Assembly. He was then a member of the Knesset, not yet a member of the Israeli government, but already known for his racist and homophobic positions. Bezalel Smotrich” is not welcome in France », declared the League of Human Rights a few days before his visit to Paris, describing him as ” arabophobic, homophobic, ultra-colonialist “.
His visit also embarrassed Jewish institutions in France, which announced no contact with the Israeli minister. Joined by RFI, the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France) confirms the absence of any meeting. The French branch of the Jewish National Fund (KKL) also requested the removal of its logo from the poster announcing the reception of Bezalel Smotrich before the organizers decided that the event would be held in an undisclosed location.
Before this extraordinary visit to French soil, the Israeli Minister of Finance had stayed in the United States, where Jewish organizations demonstrated their rejection of his far-right positions and their opposition to the current government’s judicial reform project. Israeli.
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