Jakarta, IO – The government, through Foreign Ministry (Kemlu) strongly condemns the statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who does not recognize the existence of Palestine, reported CNN Indonesia, Thursday (23/2).
Kemlu said the statement also means that Israel does respect Jordan’s sovereignty. It emphasized that Indonesia consistently supports the Palestinian cause and respects Jordan’s sovereignty.
The Palestinian Authority and the United States also issued a strong rebuke. They viewed the statement as racist. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Smotrich’s statement would not help ease escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.
“We utterly object to that kind of language. We don’t want to see any rhetoric, any action, that can stand in the way or become an obstable to a viable two-state solution, and language like that does,” Kirby said.
Smotrich said “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people” during a speech in Paris recently. According to him, Palestinian nationhood was invented in the past century in response to the Zionist movement to found modern-day Israel.
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“Who was the first Palestinian king? What language do the Palestinians have? Was there ever a Palestinian currency? Is there a Palestinian history or culture? Nothing!” he said. (un)