Israeli Finance Minister: There is No Such Thing as a Palestinian People

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, has denied the existence of a Palestinian people. “There is no such thing as Palestinians because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people,” the far-right politician said at an event in Paris on Sunday evening.

 

“There is no Palestinian history, no Palestinian language,” said the leader of the Religious Zionist Party in a speech delivered in Hebrew. The existence of a Palestinian people was “invented by some Arabs in the region in the past century to fight the Zionist movement”.

The minister continues that “historical truth” must be heard worldwide, including in the White House in Washington. He delivered the speech at a private memorial service for former French Likud activist Jacques Kupfer, who died of an illness two years ago.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced Smotrich’s comments. It concerns “racist, fascist and extremist” statements incite further escalation.

Smotrich had previously caused a stir with statements about the small Palestinian town of Huwara. After a deadly attack on Israelis, the far-right politician had demanded that the state “exterminate” the place. However, he later distanced himself from that comment.