Members of Israel's coalition and opposition on Thursday criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's recent statements that if the price of normalization with Saudi Arabia was a Palestinian state, it could “keep riding camels in the Saudi desert.”
"To our friends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Smotrich does not represent the State of Israel," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in Arabic on X/Twitter.
"I firmly oppose the establishment of a Palestinian State. That said, it does not mean we should insult a potential ally," Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli wrote, adding that Israel will be holding a camel race in the Negev with the Bedouin community.
"We warmly invite our Saudi friends to join us," he stated.
Shortly after he received backlash, Smotrich released a statement apologizing to Saudi Arabia, stating that his comments were 'unsuccessful,' but he would not accept hypocrisy.
"I expect the Saudis not to harm us and not to deny the heritage, tradition, and rights of the Jewish people to their historical homeland regions in Judea and Samaria, and to establish true peace with us."
Smotrich: Saudi normalization cannot come at cost of Palestinian state
“There is no, and there will never be, a Palestinian government,” Smotrich said, speaking on stage at a Jerusalem conference. “We are advancing peace agreements with those who can live with that [a reality in which there is no Palestinian state]. There is real feasibility to expand the Abraham Accords and realize their economic, security, and geo-strategic potential.”
He said the current government is moving ahead with “de facto sovereignty” in the West Bank.
Addressing international pressure, Smotrich brushed off penalties imposed by foreign governments.
“Sanctions do not move me. I do not fly for trips to London,” he said. He cautioned, however, against rejecting every initiative out of hand, recalling the Israeli right’s “post-trauma” when seeing White House lawn ceremonies as potential preludes to terror attacks.
“We must be sharp and clear that it will not go there, because many of the states involved see this as a route to a Palestinian state. On the other hand, we should not say no to everything,” he said.