An Israeli diplomatic official slammed National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday after his comments in an interview were interpreted as an endorsement of racist policies against Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
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"His comments are very problematic; we now have to extinguish the flames," the official said, referring to his Channel 12 News interview on Wednesday, in which he said: "My right, my wife's, my children's, to roam the roads of Judea and Samaria – that is more important than the right of movement of the Arabs [to drive there]. The right of life trumps the right of movement."
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said that his comments inflicted major damage on Israel's public diplomacy efforts, and presented a gift for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement.
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Since the interview, he has also engaged in an online spat with American model Bella Hadid. In a story on Instagram in which she quoted parts of his interview, she said his words underscored Israel's alleged racist policies.
"In no place, no time, especially in 2023 should one life be more valuable than another's. Especially simply because of their ethnicity, culture, or pure hatred," she wrote in a story uploaded to her account, which has more than 60 million followers.
Ben-Gvir shot back on Friday, in a tweet attacking the pro-Palestinian advocate. "Good morning to Israel-hater Bella Hadid," he wrote. "I saw that you took an excerpt from my interview yesterday and sent it out to the world in the hope of making me look racist and unenlightened. I invite you to my hometown Kiryat Arba to see how we live our lives, how Jews who have never hurt a soul get murdered here, and to witness the threats me and wife and children get every day."
He went on to double down on his earlier comments for restricting Arab movement, saying, "So yes, my right, my wife's, my children's, to roam the roads of Judea and Samaria and to make it back home safely – that is more important than the right of terrorists who throw rocks and murder us. I am not apologizing and not retracting what I said. I will repeat this 1,000 times. The People of Israel live."
Protesters thronged outside Ben-Gvir's home in a West Bank settlement Friday to condemn his remarks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later defended Ben-Gvir's comments in a statement, saying that Israel "allows maximum freedom of movement" in the West Bank.
Palestinian terrorists, Netanyahu said, "take advantage of this freedom of movement to murder Israeli women, children, and families by ambushing them at certain points on different routes."
"This is what Minister Ben-Gvir meant when he said 'the right to life precedes freedom of movement," Netanyahu added.
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