Smotrich blasts German leader’s West Bank comments: ‘You will not force us into ghettos again’

After German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed “deep concern” over the current state of affairs in the West Bank and said that “There must be no de facto annexation” there, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has assailed the German leader, saying: “You will not force us into ghettos again.”

In a post on X overnight, Smotrich writes: “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany, rather than daring to preach morality to us on how to conduct ourselves against the Nazis of our generation.”

Smotrich goes on to reference the acts of Hamas-led terrorists during the October 7 attacks, appearing to equate the perpetrators with Palestinian society as a whole.

The minister adds, “We will not accept instructions from hypocritical leaders in Europe, a continent that is once again losing its conscience and its ability to distinguish between good and evil.”

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany, rather than daring to preach morality to us on how to conduct ourselves against the Nazis of our generation—who murdered, raped, slaughtered,… https://t.co/9Rmwz2AtM9

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) April 13, 2026

In a direct message to Merz, he adds, “Mr. Chancellor, ​the days when Germans dictated to Jews where they were permitted or forbidden to live are over and shall not return. You will not force us into ghettos again, certainly not in our own land.”