The United States criticizes the statements of the Israeli Finance minister who called for erasing Palestinian town

The US State Department said on Wednesday that statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for it to erase the Palestinian village of Hawara amounted to incitement to violence, and asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly disavow them.

The US State Department called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disavow the finance minister’s statements publicly.

Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, made the remarks at a conference held Wednesday amid a series of deadly Palestinian attacks and violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Asked about the attack by settlers on the Palestinian village of Hawara earlier this week, which an Israeli general described Tuesday as a massacre, Smotrich said, “I think Hawara should be completely wiped out, and I think the State of Israel should do that”.

The US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that Smotrich’s comments were “abhorrent, irresponsible and disgusting”.

Price added, “Just as we condemn the Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative statements, which also amount to incitement to violence”.

The Israeli police arrested 10 people suspected of involvement in the attack that took place in the town of Hawara, and claimed the life of a Palestinian.

After his statements, Smotrich issued a statement saying that the media had misinterpreted his statements, without retracting his call to erase the village.

“I talked about how Hawara has become a hostile village that has turned into a terrorist outpost, from where daily attacks on Jews are launched,” he said.

Smotrich aded “Enforcing law by hand is forbidden… I support the response to every terrorist act, including the deportation of terrorists’ families”.