State Department Vehemently Condemns ‘Disgusting’ Statement From Senior Israeli Minister Calling to ‘Wipe Out’ Palestinian Village
State Department Spokesman Ned Price pulled no punches Wednesday in condemning the recent statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for the Palestinian village of Huwara to be “wiped out” by Israel.
Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party in the Knesset, was asked at a conference held by the Israeli business publication The Marker, why he recently liked a by Samaria Regional Council Deputy Mayor David Ben Zion, which called “to wipe out the village of Huwara today.”
“Because I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it,” Smotrich responded, earlier in the day on Wednesday. Smotrich also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank.
Huwara, a Nablus area village, was the scene of a violent rampage of hundreds of Israeli settlers after a terrorist from the village shot and killed two Israeli brothers in the neighboring Israeli settlement Har Bracha on Sunday.
The resulting attacks on Huwara led to one Palestinian being shot dead, multiple severe injuries, and the torching of over 30 homes and some 100 cars.
Price was asked about Smotrich’s comments on Wednesday during a press briefing.
“An Israeli finance minister called the Israeli government to wipe out the Huwara village, the Palestinian village. Do you have any comment on that?” Price was asked.
“I want to be very clear about this. These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting,” Price replied, adding:
And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence. We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials to publicly and clearly reject and disavow these comments.
We condemn, as we have consistently, terrorism and extremism in all of its forms, and we continue to urge that there be equal measures of accountability for extremist actions, regardless of the background of the perpetrators or the victims.
“We’ve already noted our concern, as I did just a moment ago, about the wide-scale indiscriminate violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians in this very town in Huwara that led to the death of one Palestinian man. More than 300 residents injured, four seriously. And the torching of an estimated, of numerous Palestinian homes and cars. It is imperative in some ways, now more than ever, that Israelis and Palestinians work together again to de-escalate these tensions and to restore the calm that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve,” Price responded.
Israel has been engulfed in domestic turmoil in recent weeks, both as tensions with the Palestinians continue to ratchet up and the government’s judicial reform law, which would limit the Supreme Court’s power, has sparked mass protests nationwide.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who regained power in December 2022, compared anti-government protestors in Tel Aviv to the settlers who rampaged through Huwara during an address to the nation on Wednesday night.
“Freedom to protest is not a license to drive the country to anarchy,” Netanyahu said of the protests which have swelled to well over 100,000 people. On Wednesday night the police quelled protests in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as violent clashes broke out.
Watch the full clip above via C-SPAN
