Firebrand MK says sorry for doubting PM’s leadership
Jewish Home lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich apologizes after Netanyahu refused to let him into his office
An outspoken right-wing lawmaker apologized on Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he called into question the premier’s leadership abilities.
“If the Prime Minister was insulted by what was said, then I am willing to apologize for it,” Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) told Army Radio on Sunday morning.
Smotrich’s apology to the Prime Minister came after Netanyahu refused to let him enter a meeting Saturday night that included Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) regarding the planned evacuation of the illegal Amona outpost, which was ordered by Israel’s Supreme Court to be demolished by December 25.
Smotrich, who is a champion of the settler movement and a vehement opponent of Amona’s evacuation, had said in an interview with the Haaretz daily that Netanyahu is not a true representative of the Israeli right.
“Netanyahu is not right-wing,” Smotrich said, adding that the prime minister’s declared support for a two-state solution has done “damage to the positions and interests of Israel.”
Smotrich also said that “I am braver than Netanyahu” and that “probably if Netanyahu had been there instead of [David] Ben-Gurion, a state would not have come into being. Ben-Gurion had courage.”
During the 2005 evacuation of all settlements in the Gaza Strip, Smotrich was arrested for his role in blocking roads in protest against the pullout, and has since become one of the most hardline opponents of any territorial compromise with the Palestinians and the removal of any Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Smotrich told Haaretz that “it will be very difficult, not to say impossible, to remain in a government that evacuates Amona,” but believes that a solution will be found to prevent its destruction.
Currently, the coalition has been debating the Regulation Bill, which seeks to grant legal status to illegal outposts in the West Bank. On Saturday night, Netanyahu and Bennett met in order to hash out a compromise on the bill, to no avail. The law in its current form is opposed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu), due to a clause that would retroactively legalize wildcat outposts built on private Palestinian land, including Amona.
A first of three votes needed for the bill to pass is expected to take place on Monday at the Knesset.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report
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