Washington, D.C. – The United States government is increasingly faced with calls from advocacy groups, including Jewish-American organizations, to impose a visa ban on a far-right Israeli minister who called for the destruction of a Palestinian village.
The US State Department on Wednesday denounced Israeli Treasury Secretary Bezalel Smotrich’s comments, calling them “abhorrent” and “disgusting,” but proponents have said verbal condemnation is not enough.
Smotrich, an ultranationalist who also oversees civilian administration in the occupied West Bank, will speak at a conference in Washington, DC, later in March, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Wednesday.
“I think Huwara village should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it,” Smotrich told Israeli media after Israeli settlers looted the Palestinian town and burned dozens of houses and cars.
Americans for Peace Now (APN), an anti-occupation American Jewish group, said Smotrich’s comments were an incitement to war crime and urged President Joe Biden to bar him from entering the US.
“The United States needs to be clear. All that needs to be wiped out is his violent and hateful ideology. It is unacceptable abroad and it is unacceptable here,” APN said in a letter to Biden calling on supporters to sign.
“Now Smotrich wants to bring his hatred to American soil. He has plans to travel to the United States later this month. We’re here to say he’s not welcome.”
J Street, a Jewish-American group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, called on US officials to avoid Smotrich.
“They must make it clear that Smotrich’s comments and actions are immensely damaging to the US-Israel relationship,” J Street said in a statement.
“In addition, the government must make it clear that comments that incite serious human rights violations, such as Smotrich’s, are grounds for re-examination of a visa for entry into the United States.”
Asked about the calls to deny Smotrich entry, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Thursday: “We are not speaking to individual visa files, nor – in general – to the suitability of any particular individual for a US visa. Nevertheless, we will continue to make it clear that we reject the minister’s comments, as we did yesterday.”
The settlers’ attack on Huwara had sparked international outcry against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with many Palestinians saying Israeli troops were watching and not trying to stop the rampage.
Several hundred Israeli settlers rampaged in the town of Hawara in the occupied West Bank, resulting in the death of a Palestinian and hundreds of injuries.
The Israeli settlers widely advertised their plans, but the military failed to block them. pic.twitter.com/fXva5oEWqG
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) March 2, 2023
Israel, accused of imposing a system of apartheid by leading human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, receives at least $3.8 billion annually in US aid.
Washington has become increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s far-right administration’s policies, including the expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. However, the Biden administration regularly reaffirms its “irresolute” commitment to Israel, ruling out practical measures to counter Israeli government policies.
Progressive advocates and lawmakers have said Washington should put conditions on its aid to Israel, but Biden has repeatedly rejected the idea.
T’ruah, a rights organization representing hundreds of rabbis in the US, this week called on the Biden administration to revoke Smotrich’s visa and urged American Jewish organizations to refuse to work with him.
“His comment not only adds to the pain of families and community members harmed by the violence in Huwara, it also adds to the growing incitement by members of Netanyahu’s new far-right, extremist government,” he said. T’ruah CEO, Rabbi Jill Jacobs. , a statement said.
Adalah Justice Project, a Palestinian-led advocacy group, encouraged supporters to sign a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to bar Smotrich from entering the country.
“The United States should ban Israel’s Bezalel Smotrich’s trip to the United States in March 2023 because of his statements calling for violence and atrocities against the Palestinian people,” reads the letter, detailing the Israeli minister’s comments to Huwara as a “call for genocide”.
Democratic Senator Peter Welch said he shared a letter with Biden on Thursday urging the US president to take a more active approach to pushing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We have a choice: to stand by while a wilted two-state approach fades into obscurity, or do our best to revive it with more assertive efforts to persuade the Netanyahu administration to stop further expansion of settlements in the West Bank. stop, to stop all destruction. de facto annexations, and to reaffirm Israel’s commitment to a viable two-state solution,” the senator wrote.
“Any hope for peace and prosperity in the region depends on whether the United States makes the right choice now.”
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