Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right Finance Minister, said over the weekend that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people or a nation. This came after Smotrich called for the "erasure" of a Palestinian community just a few weeks earlier.
Jewish nationalist Smotrich asserted that the Zionist drive to build modern-day Israel was the catalyst for the invention of Palestinian nationalism in the previous century.
"Who was the first king of Palestine? What dialects speak the Palestinians? Has Palestine ever had its own currency? Exists a Palestinian culture or history? Nothing. In a speech in Paris, Smotrich asserted that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, disapproved of the remarks on Monday, claiming that they wouldn't help to reduce tensions in the area.
"We categorically reject that language. Speaking on Israeli Channel 13, Kirby stated, "And It's extremely unhelpful to - again - trying to de-escalate the tensions and trying to find a workable two-state solution moving forward." To put it bluntly, "We don't want to see any rhetoric, any action or rhetoric that could become a barrier or impediment to a workable two-state solution, and language like that does."
Smotrich's comments were denounced by the Palestinian Authority presidency as "racist" and "an attempt to falsify history."
The PA claimed that the Palestinian people "have existed on this land forever" in a statement.
In addition to calling Smotrich's remarks racist, Hamas, the militant Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza and advocates for the destruction of Israel, said they "clearly reflect the fascist policies of colonial settlement expansion and forced eviction of the Palestinian people, on which the occupation state was founded."
Israel and Jordan had a diplomatic issue as a result of Smotrich's presence in Paris. A larger version of the Israeli flag, showing an enlarged map of Israel that encompassed the West Bank, Gaza, and most of Jordan that was under occupation, was hung over the podium he was standing at.
According to a representative for Smotrich, the minister was just a guest at the event, and the flag used there was "set decoration" placed there by the conference organizers.
Monday, in response to Smotrich's use of the map, Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador to Amman. the foreign ministry of Jordan "warned of the seriousness of the continuation of these extreme racist statements made by the same minister who had previously called for the destruction of the Palestinian village of Huwara." The Jordanian-Israeli peace accord was broken, it was claimed, by Smotrich's conduct.
Responding through Twitter, Israel's foreign ministry stated that it was "committed to the 1994 peace agreement with Jordan" and that Israel "recognizes the territorial integrity" of Jordan.
Israel's National Security Council chief, Tzachi Hanegbi, also said he spoke with Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, to reiterate Israel's commitment to Jordan's territorial integrity and the Israel-Jordan peace accord.
In an effort to reduce tensions before the Ramadan and Passover holidays, Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on the same day as Smotrich's remarks. The two sides also promised "to develop a mechanism to curb and counter violence, incitement, and inflammatory statements and actions" among other things.
The minister has a long history of rejecting the existence of a Palestinian country and has made contentious statements about them as well as on other matters including LGBTQ rights. He also has some responsibility over the Israeli unit that manages border crossings and permits for Palestinians.
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