The extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, slammed Monday, July 10, 2023, the statements of US President Joe Biden against the Israeli settlement in the West Bank, stressing that the Israeli occupation will not give up any Israeli settlement outpost.
On Sunday, July 9, Joe Biden said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition contained some of the “most extreme” members he had seen.
He also criticized the Israeli ministers who support the illegal settlement projects, accusing them of being “part of the problem” in the occupied West Bank.
“They are a part of the problem … particularly those members of the cabinet who say, ‘we can settle anywhere we want’. They have no right to be here,” Biden told CNN.
Ben Gvir replied to Biden’s comments on Twitter, saying that Biden “needs to realize that we are no longer a star on the American flag”.
“How exactly am I an extremist? By distributing weapons to the citizens of Israel to defend themselves? By my full support for our soldiers and policemen? … I invite Biden to tour Jerusalem and Hebron to see that our extremism is linked to a great love for the State of Israel,” Ben Gvir said.
It’s noteworthy that the international community and international law consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. But since taking office in December, Netanyahu’s far-right government has pushed for their expansion, approving plans for about 13,000 new housing units in many settlements.
The Israeli settlement expansion measures have escalated as Israeli violence and crimes in the West Bank have surged in the deadliest year since 2005.
So far in 2023, Israeli occupation forces have killed 146 Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories, according to the UN.
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