A far-right Israeli official has responded to the US State Department’s rebuke to his comments that call for the resettlement of Gazans outside of the Gaza Strip.
“Very appreciative of the United States of America but with all due respect we are not just another star on the American flag,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said in a translated post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
He called the US Israel’s “good friend.”
“But first of all we will do what is good for the State of Israel,” the minister said, adding that the “emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza” will allow Israeli settlers to return and “live in security.”
He and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made the suggestion earlier this week.
Smotrich called for Palestinian residents to leave the Gaza strip, to make way for Israelis who could “make the desert bloom,” according to Reuters.
Gvir expressed support for resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip abroad, declaring that the war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza” during a political meeting.
Earlier Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said that “such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government,” denouncing them as “inflammatory and irresponsible.”