Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lashed at the United States on Tuesday, stating that Israel’s closest ally has been pushing Israel towards suicide for years by advocating for a two-state solution.
In a televised interview with Israeli Channel 14, Smotrich said that Washington has been “pushing Israel toward suicide for years” by pursuing “a two-state solution”.
“(A two-state solution) is like taking Gaza, multiplying it by 20, and putting it in an area that controls three-quarters of Israel,” Smotrich added.
Smotrich’s comments came after US President Joe Biden expressed criticism of the Israeli government at a campaign fundraising event in Washington.
Biden said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must consider a change in his hardline government stance.
The Israeli army has admitted that eight of its soldiers – mostly officers – have been killed in a Palestinian Resistance ambush in northern Gaza last night. They include a division Golani commander.
Meanwhile, Palestinian hospitals have reported that hundreds of Palestinians… pic.twitter.com/ozU8zyyj5S
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 13, 2023
This is “the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said, pointing out that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
“I see that as a compliment,” Smotrich responded.
Smotrich was not the only Israeli official to slam Biden’s remarks.
“There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never allow the establishment of another state between the Jordan River and the sea,” Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karai wrote on X on Tuesday. “We will never return to Oslo.”
Despite Biden’s more critical comments to donors, elsewhere he has continued to voice staunch support for Israel’s military operation. During a White House event to mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Monday, he told attendees “I am a Zionist” while reiterating Washington’s “unshakable” commitment to Israel’s security.
Calling Netanyahu’s Administration “the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said the prime minister must “change his government”.https://t.co/zOJ7yLmcLf pic.twitter.com/YNEeHGQHfS
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 13, 2023
Moreover, Biden continues to urge lawmakers to approve a spending package that includes $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel and recently bypassed a congressional review to fast-track the sale of $106.5 million in tank shells to the Israeli army.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,412 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
