Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Palestinians to “voluntarily emigrate” to Western countries on Tuesday in response to an op-ed by Likud MK Danny Danon and Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak that was published in the Wall Street Journal and called on Western countries to accept Gazan refugees.
“I welcome the initiative of voluntary relocation of Gazan Arabs to countries worldwide,” Smotrich wrote. “This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the whole area after 75 years of being poor refugees. The majority of Gaza is fourth and fifth generations to 1948 refugees who, instead of being rehabilitated long ago like hundreds of millions of refugees around the world, were held hostage in Gaza in poverty and overcrowding and were a symbol of the desire to destroy the State of Israel and of the refugees’ return to Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, and Tiberias.”
He went on to say this has bred the hatred for Israel and Jews “upon which the population in Gaza is raised and educated” and led them to believe that the only solution is the destruction of Israel.
“The small area of the Gaza Strip, which doesn’t have any natural resources or independent sources of income, has no chance of independent, economic, and diplomatic existence in such high density long-term,” he went on. “Therefore, the only solution to end the suffering and the pain of Jews and Arabs alike is for countries around the world who truly want what’s good for the refugees to accept them along with support and economic aid from the international community, including the State of Israel.”
Hellbound and Down 