"It's not for the Germans to dictate to the Jews where we live — we will continue to expel the Palestinians"

A new conflict broke out between Berlin and the Israeli leadership. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply reprimanded German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, reports TC Bild in Russian❶.

Recently, the Israeli Government has established 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalization of previously illegal outposts. Merz, after talking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the situation in the Palestinian territories causes him "great concern", and there should be no annexation of the West Bank. In response, Smotrich accused Merz of returning to the Nazi past.

"Mr. Chancellor, the times when the Germans dictated to the Jews where they were allowed to live and where not, have passed and will not return. They will not force us to return to the ghetto, certainly not in our own country," Smotrich wrote.

The Israeli ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, publicly distanced himself from Smotrich's words. He said that it is possible to argue with the German leadership, but such statements "undermine the memory of the Holocaust." Prosor also stressed that Germany remains Israel's "number one friend," and called Merz himself a "great friend of Israel."

❶An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent