Smotrich attacks Merz over his criticism of settlement expansion in the West Bank

The Israeli minister describes the German chancellor as a hypocrite and calls on him to “bow and apologize a thousand times” on the occasion of the Holocaust remembrance.

Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, launched a sharp attack on Tuesday against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for criticizing settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories and Tel Aviv’s attempts to annex the West Bank, urging him to “bow and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany.”

Germany is the leading European country supporting Israel, having supplied it with tons of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment since the beginning of the Israeli-American war against Iran on February 28.

On Monday evening, Merz wrote on the X platform: “I am deeply concerned about developments in the Palestinian territories. During my phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, I made it clear that a de facto annexation of the West Bank must not take place.”

Merz was referring to the recent approval by Israel’s security and political cabinet (“the cabinet”) of the establishment of 34 new settlements in the West Bank, which the United Nations considers occupied Palestinian territory.

However, the leader of the far-right “Religious Zionism” party, who stands behind the settlement decisions and advocates the annexation of the West Bank, strongly attacked the German chancellor.

On Tuesday, he stated: “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German chancellor should have bowed and apologized a thousand times on behalf of Germany, instead of daring to lecture us morally on how to deal with the ‘Nazis’ of our generation,” according to his own wording.

In 1948, Israel was established on lands occupied by armed Zionist groups that committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians. Tel Aviv later occupied the remainder of the Palestinian territories, refuses to withdraw from them, and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.

For years, the Israeli army and settlers have intensified their actions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include arrests, killings, destruction and demolition of facilities and homes, displacement of Palestinians, and expansion of settlements on their land.

Palestinians warn that these actions pave the way for Israel to officially declare the annexation of the West Bank, which would mean the end of the possibility of establishing the Palestinian state envisioned in United Nations resolutions.

The Israeli minister added: “We will not accept instructions from hypocritical leaders in Europe. It is a continent that is losing its conscience and its ability to distinguish between good and evil,” adding, “The time when Germans dictated to Jews where they should live is over and will not return.”

In contrast, Israel’s ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, condemned Smotrich’s attack on Merz, telling the broadcaster on Tuesday: “I condemn this unequivocally.”

He added: “It is entirely legitimate to argue with the Germans, especially on this very emotionally charged day,” referring to the commemoration of the killing of Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II (1939–1945).

He continued: “Everyone, including myself, has serious criticisms regarding the rise of antisemitism in Germany and the denial of Israel’s existence. Nevertheless, relations between Israel and Germany remain warmer than those with the rest of Europe.”

He concluded: “There is constant political debate, but Merz is a great friend of Israel (…) Germany has proven, particularly amid the many criticisms directed at Israel in Europe, that it is our foremost ally.”