Politics1 min read

Smotrich says he ‘won’t let’ Palestinian citizens celebrate election gains

By · Via Middle East Eye · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has stated that his party will not allow Palestinian citizens to celebrate the recent election gains, criticizing the projected victory of the Joint List and United Arab List, which would secure 16-18 seats, up from 10 in the previous Knesset. Smotrich also emphasized that the parties would not be able to reverse the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Key points

  • Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that his party will not allow Pal…: Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that his party will not allow Palestinian citizens to celebrate the recent election gains.
  • Smotrich criticized the projected victory of the Joint List and United Arab List, which w…: Smotrich criticized the projected victory of the Joint List and United Arab List, which would secure 16-18 seats, up from 10 in the previous Knesset.
  • Smotrich emphasized that the parties would not be able to reverse the expansion of Israel…: Smotrich emphasized that the parties would not be able to reverse the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said his party “won’t let” Palestinian citizens of Israel celebrate after exit polls projected major gains for Palestinian-led parties, Haaretz reported.

“I can see on some of the screens that the Arabs are celebrating tonight. So I’m telling you and them: We won’t let them celebrate,” Smotrich said at an event held by his Religious Zionism party.

Exit polls projected the Joint List and the United Arab List would win between 16 and 18 seats, up from the 10 seats the two parties held in the outgoing Knesset.

Smotrich also said the parties would not be able to reverse the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“They think they’ll be able to reverse the settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria, and I’m telling them they won’t succeed,” he said, using the Israeli term for the occupied territory.

Original source: www.middleeasteye.net

Politics