Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Thursday that comments he made this week that appeared to justify the starvation of Gazans were taken out of context, as he faced a chorus of condemnation from international allies and American Jewish groups.
Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Smotrich stood by his remarks, though he tried to distance himself from the furore they have unleashed, with some in Israel apparently concerned that the comments could harm Jerusalem’s cause in its fight against genocide charges at the International Court of Justice.
Smotrich told the station that he had been “misunderstood” and that his comments had been taken out of context, saying he did not support the idea of starving Gazans as a war tactic.
“What I said is that we have to allow humanitarian aid to come in because no one will let us starve the Gazans, but what I also said is that morally we have to condition humanitarian aid on a humanitarian concession and tell Hamas, the Gazans and the world that we are allowing aid to come in on the condition that they return our hostages,” Smotrich said.
“The hostages are languishing in the tunnels and we are pampering the Gaza Strip (with aid). In my eyes, this is immoral and unjust,” he added.
On Monday, Smotrich told a conference that Israel was providing aid to Gazans because it had no choice. “No one will let us starve two million civilians, no matter how justified and moral it may be, until our hostages are returned,” he said.
The comments have since been met with a wave of criticism from Israel’s allies, the latest clash between the far-right agitator and Western capitals on which Israel relies for support.
Displaced Palestinian children queue at a food distribution point in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on August 8, 2024. (Eyad Baba/AFP)
On Thursday, a White House National Security Council spokesman joined the State Department and others in challenging Smotrich.
“We unequivocally condemn these appalling comments and call on the Israeli government to do the same,” an NSC spokesperson told The Times of Israel, a day after a State Department spokesperson called the remarks “harmful and disturbing.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also condemned Smotrich’s remarks on Thursday, calling them “shameful statements, unacceptable in form and content” and a violation of international humanitarian law.
Such “irresponsible statements” constitute incitement to hatred against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the ministry added.
The European Union, France and the United Kingdom had earlier condemned the far-right minister’s comments, with the EU saying the deliberate starvation of civilians was a “war crime”.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on X that “there can be no justification for Minister Smotrich’s remarks” and called on “the entire Israeli government to retract and condemn them.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition has remained largely silent on the issue.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attend the state budget vote at the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Speaking to the Ynet news website on Wednesday, Energy Minister Eli Cohen repeatedly refused to condemn Smotrich, saying only that Israel respects the laws and does not starve Gazans.
Over the past decade of war, Israel has been repeatedly accused of failing to allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges including “provoking starvation as a method of warfare, including withholding humanitarian aid.”
The war in Gaza began with Hamas’ unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which the terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israeli troops invaded Gaza with the aim of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.
A truck carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip crosses the Kerem Shalom border crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, on May 30, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Aid officials say the war has brought Gaza to the brink of famine because of the slow pace of humanitarian aid entering the Strip.
To refute the genocide accusations, Israel has highlighted its efforts to increase aid deliveries to Gaza and blamed the humanitarian crisis on the failure of aid agencies to properly distribute supplies and the looting of aid trucks by terrorist groups and gangs.
But some in the international community have pointed to comments by Israeli ministers, including Smotrich, who appear to support withholding aid to Gaza as a negotiating tactic or punitive measure, as evidence of a deliberate Israeli campaign of starvation.
Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report.
