Smotrich appears in picture next to ‘Death to Arabs’ graffiti, disavows message

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich disavows calls to kill Arabs after the Samaria Regional Council distributes a photograph of him visiting the former West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur in which he can be seen standing and smiling next to graffiti reading “death to Arabs.”

Smotrich’s office says in a statement that the slur was only noticed “after the photo was distributed and of course we completely disavow” its message.

על רקע הכיתוב "מוות לערבים": שר האוצר סמוטריץ' הגיע לש-נור בצפון השומרון, 20 שנה אחרי ההתנתקות ותועד עם הכיתוב ברקע. לצידו, ראש מועצת שומרון יוסי דגן@ItayBlumental
(צילום: רועי חדי מועצה אזורית שומרון) pic.twitter.com/5QTHjGGjUN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 7, 2025

The picture was taken this morning, as Smotrich visited the site to mark 20 years since its evacuation. The Samaria Regional Council, whose leader Yossi Dagan is also in the picture, later sent out a second press release with the graffiti cropped out.

Smotrich’s office says the media shouldn’t be concerned by “stupid graffiti that no one noticed” but by the minister’s drive to “reverse the expulsion from northern Samaria and resettle Sa-Nur.”

Condemning Smotrich, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid asks, “What in God’s name does the government expect us to say to the world when a photo is published of a senior minister smiling next to the inscription ‘Death to Arabs’?”

In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the government had approved the construction of 22 new West Bank settlements, including Sa-Nur and Homesh, which were forcibly cleared in 2005 alongside Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip.