US slams Israeli ministers' statements on resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

US slams Israeli ministers' statements on resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza

By Kanishka Singh
January 2, 2024 4:00 PM EST Updated 32 min ago

WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday slammed recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir that advocated for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, calling the rhetoric "inflammatory and irresponsible."

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The comments from the ministers appeared to underscore fears in much of the Arab world that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of land where they want to build a future state, repeating the mass dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.

Finance Minister Smotrich, one of the senior figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, called on Sunday for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the besieged enclave. National Security Minister Ben-Gvir also said the war in Gaza presented an "opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza."

KEY QUOTES
"This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible. We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government," the State Department said in a statement, saying such statements should "stop immediately."

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-slams-israeli-ministers-statements-resettlement-palestinians-outside-gaza-2024-01-02/

Alternate no-paywall link: https://news.yahoo.com/us-slams-israeli-ministers-statements-204749983.html

[msongs]

1. forget words, look at behavior.... nt

[Israeli]

2. Actually, Why Not Transfer Settlers Out of Israel?

"Transfer" is back in vogue. The list of its enthusiasts is growing by the minute. So perhaps the time has come to discuss it with an open mind, with a willingness to change antiquated viewpoints, and with a slightly more contemporary vision of Israel and its future.

For some reason, most of those who deal with the concept insist on discussing only one type of transfer: the one that displaces Arabs from their homes and sends them all to hell. But this is a rather problematic idea, involving lawsuits, international censure, red tape and the need to use a level of physical pressure that is absolutely not moderate.
But use a little creativity, and you'll find, just like that, eminently transferable human material right under our noses, the transfer of which will not require anyone to leave their home, to move from where they are, to transport their belongings or to perform any activity involving motion.

This is a transfer that has only advantages, and not a single disadvantage. It will be greeted by the entire world with thunderous applause, it will raise Israel's standing among the nations, restore its former glory as a (more or less) democratic state (plus or minus), and doubtless also cause the shekel to appreciate against major currencies and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to soar.
In addition to all its other virtues, this transfer is easy, and it could be effected within days, hours or maybe even minutes. That is because the candidates for transfer, all of them, with their wives and their little ones, their flocks and their rifles, are already abroad.

That is, they only need to be officially informed that from now on they are abroad. Of course the border agents must also be briefed that from now on, the Green Line is the eastern border of the State of Israel, and that's that – the transfer has been done.

Source : Haaretz
Link : https://archive.md/aeGYx#selection-1025.0-1025.257