Chairman of the Religious Zionist party Betzalel Smotrich attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Motzei Shabbos for the latter’s reaction to the recent wave of Arab terror in Jerusalem, calling for calm on both sides.
“After countless incidents of Arab terror and lynchings in recent days and after the barrage of rockets from Gaza into southern communities, Netanyahu calls this evening for ‘calm on both sides???'” Smotrich wrote.
Smotrich’s statement on Twitter was accompanied by a video of an Arab mob attacking a Jew.
תגידו, אחרי אין ספור אירועי טרור ולינצ'ים של האויב הערבי בימים האחרונים ואחרי מטח טילים מעזה לישובי הדרום נתניהו אשכרה קרא הערב "להרגיע את הרוחות מכל הצדדים"???
יכול להיות שבאמת הגיע הזמן להחליף אותו. pic.twitter.com/oZFvCGj6Oh
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) April 24, 2021
In response to his statement, the Likud party attacked Smotrich, saying: “After the prime minister and Likud garnered three mandates for the Religious Zionist party, and reserved another MK for them on the Likud list, and as Smotrich is not part of the situational assessment of the extremely delicate security situation, it is advisable for Smotrich to display a minimum amount of modesty, responsibility, and gratitude, and refrain from attacking the prime minister who turns his nights into days working for the security of Israel.”
In turn, Smotrich responded: “The abandonment of the state of Israel and the security of its citizens to Arab rioters…is not part of my values…just like the establishment of a government that relies on terror supporters who deny our existence here and support these rioters. And to sum it up in one sentence that you and your friends should finally internalize: ‘I’m a right-winger, not a ‘Bibist.'”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Just because he can’t get a majority in parliament even though parties that agree with him ideologically have an overwhelming majority of seats? The message of the past elections is that most Israelis agree with Netanyahu on what to do, but don’t want him as prime minister.