Netanyahu misquote reaches the Arab League
Organization slams the prime minister for alleged joy over children’s deaths, and for denying it
Elhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
The Arab League has condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for expressing joy at the death of Palestinian children in a bus accident last week, misattributing remarks made on a Facebook page to Netanyahu himself.
“The most dangerous thing was that Netanyahu posted these remarks on his Facebook page and then tried to deny them,” Mohammad Subeih, assistant secretary general for Palestine and occupied Arab territories, said in a statement Monday. “These remarks show how racism is radically spreading in Israel.”
Shortly after the fatal accident last Thursday, Netanyahu posted a message of consolation on his official Facebook page, but some responders posted expressions of relief and even joy at news that the victims were Palestinian. Those comments were removed by Netanyahu’s staff within an hour.
But Jordanian daily A-Dustour ran an article titled “Netanyahu wishes death to all Arabs,” misquoting coverage of the story by the Israeli daily Haaretz.
The Jordanian article quickly spread across Arab media and has now even reached the top political institution of the Arab world.
Condemnation of Israel is not unusual in the Arab League. On Sunday the organization chastised Israel for “Judaizing Jerusalem,” the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.