A thing? The Palestinians exist. Several in Gaza are supporting terrorists. Why do you think there are no Palestinians, Fredo?
‘No such thing’ as Palestinian people, top Israeli minister says
The comments from a senior member of Israel’s new far-right government raised questions about attempts to lower tensions ahead of a sensitive holiday season.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Jerusalem on March 5, 2023.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Jerusalem on March 5.Gil Cohen-Magen / Pool via AP
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March 21, 2023, 4:31 AM CDT / Source: Associated Press
By Associated Press
A firebrand Israeli minister claimed there’s “no such thing” as a Palestinian people as Israel’s new coalition government, its most hard-line ever, plowed ahead on Monday with a part of its plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition said it was pushing a key part of the overhaul — which would give the coalition control over who becomes a justice or a judge — before the parliament takes a monthlong holiday break next week.
The development came a day after an Israeli and Palestinian delegation at a meeting in Egypt, mediated by Egyptian, Jordanian and U.S. officials, pledged to take steps to lower tensions roiling the region ahead of a sensitive holiday season.
It reflected the limited influence the Biden administration appears to have over Israel’s new far-right government and raised questions about attempts to lower tensions, both inside Israel and with the Palestinians, ahead of a sensitive holiday season.
As the negotiators were issuing a joint communique, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich delivered a speech in Paris saying the notion of a Palestinian people was artificial.
“There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language,” he said in France late Sunday. He spoke at a memorial event for a French-Israeli right-wing activist who denied the existence of a Palestinian nation and advocated annexation of the West Bank. The lectern was adorned with what appeared to be an image showing the map of Israel that included the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Jordan.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...ian-people-israel-minister-smotrich-rcna75857