Top Israeli officials have come under fire from Washington for advocating for the “eradication” of a Palestinian community. The Huwara village had been assaulted by settlers.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the US Secretary of State, also encouraged Israeli Prime Minister to “publicly and firmly” denounce the attack. The attack against the West Bank community of Huwara was made by the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
These remarks were careless. These were disgusting. Price reportedly told reporters on Wednesday that they were abhorrent. Price condemned these inflammatory comments, which also amount to incitement to violence, in the same way as we denounce Palestinian threats of violence.
Shortly after Israeli settlers attacked Huwara and set fire to scores of cars and homes, Smotrich, a far-right Israeli lawmaker who also manages civil administration in the West Bank, made his statements.
“I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the state of Israel should do it,” Israeli media quoted from Smotrich.
In the midst of a rise in violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Israelis attacked Huwara, close to the city of Nablus, killing one Palestinian man in the process.
11 Palestinians were slain by Israeli soldiers during an assault on Nablusin previous days. On Sunday, a Palestinian shooter killed two Israeli settlers, and a driver who was also shot and died in revenge.
Price reaffirmed Washington’s demand for “equivalent measures of accountability for extremist activities regardless of the origin of the offenders, or the victims,” yesterday.
Huwara Challenge
Nevertheless, the Times of Israel reported that as of Tuesday, Israeli officials had only detained eight individuals out of the hundreds who took part in the Huwara riot.
The extremist initiatives of Netanyahu’s administration, such as the growth of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, have come under growing fire from Washington. Nonetheless, proponents of Palestinian freedom have been requesting specific move from US government to prevent future violations by Israel.
Leading human rights organisations accuse Israel of establishing an apartheid system. That is while Tel Aviv gets at least $3.8 billion in yearly American funding.
An advocacy organisation named DAWN requested the State Department to deny Smotrich a US visa. Executive head of DAWN asserted that “The Biden Administration should not let top government figures who are inciting atrocities against Palestinian people to broadcast their violent and vile speech in the United States.
The ‘special’ character of the alliance between the Washington and Tel Aviv should have boundaries. It should have barred Smotrich from conveying an essential message that the US would not allow such risky, careless violent rhetoric, according to Sarah Leah Whitson.
J Street, a pro-Israel and pro-peace Jewish-American organisation, urged Biden to set “clear redlines and practical repercussions” for Israeli governmental policies earlier this week.
According to a statement released by J Street, only then can the Biden Administration realistically expect to stop the rise of terrorism and violence, promote American interests, protect Israeli and Palestinian liberties and safety, and help preserve Israel’s survival as a democratic state.
A self-described Zionist, Biden has frequently reaffirmed the US’s “ironclad” support for Israel, rejecting attempts to impose restrictions on such support.
