Bezalel Smotrich

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Bezalel Smotrich (2012)

Bezalel Joel Smotrich ( Hebrew בצלאל סמוטריץ ', [ ˈSmɔtritʃ ]; * February 27, 1980 in Chispin on the Golan Heights ) is an Israeli politician and Minister of Transport in the Netanyahu IV cabinet since June 2019 .

Since January 2019 he has been chairman of the right-wing religious party Tkuma , which has formed a parliamentary group with HaBajit haJehudi in the Knesset since 2013 .

Life

Smotrich was in Israel's 1980 moshav born Chispin to Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, grew up in the Israeli settlement of Beit El in the occupied West Bank and attended the Mercaz Harav Kook ; He studied at the University Jaschlaz and at the yeshiva Kedumim .

Smotrich has been a member of the Knesset since 2015 . In June 2019, Smotrich was appointed Minister of Transport for Israel.

Smotrich is an Orthodox Jew , married, has seven children and lives with his family in the Israeli settlement of Kedumim in the West Bank. He is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor.

Political views and controversies

Smotrich is of the opinion that there is no such thing as a “Palestinian people” and that there is therefore no reason to establish a Palestinian state.

In May 2017, Smotrich presented a plan he called the "Submission Plan". Its aim is "to extinguish all national hope of the Palestinians". Under the plan, the Palestinians have three options: to leave the country; with the status of "foreigners" (גר תושב) to live in Israel; or to resist, "and then the Israeli army will already know what to do". Regarding the status as “foreigner” Smotrich remarked: “According to Jewish law there must always be a certain inferiority.” On the possibility of resistance and when asked whether he intended to exterminate entire families including women and children, Smotrich said: “ War is war. ”Smotrich cited the book of Joshua as the source of his remarks . In the Israeli press his plan was e.g. Sometimes interpreted to mean that he is giving the Palestinians the choice between “transfer” ( ethnic cleansing ), apartheid or genocide .

In April 2018, Smotrich said on Twitter that 17-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi , who had been sentenced to eight months in prison for slapping an Israeli soldier, “deserved a bullet - at least in the kneecap”. Twitter then banned him for a period of twelve hours.

In 2016, Smotrich sparked controversy in Israel when he advocated the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers in maternity wards. He wrote on Twitter: "It is only natural that my wife doesn't want to lie next to someone who has just given birth to a baby who could murder their baby in 20 years." He also announced, "My wife is really not racist." , but she wants to rest after giving birth and not partying, as is customary with Arab mothers after giving birth. ”Several Knesset MPs from various parties criticized Smotrich's position. Also Naftali Bennett , the former chairman of the National Religious Party "Jewish Home" contradicted his party colleagues by quoting from the Hebrew Bible: ". Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of God," Bennett added: " Jew or Arab. "

Smotrich rejects same-sex marriage and expressed himself homophobic several times . In 2015, he labeled LGBT people as “abnormal” and stated, “Anyone can be abnormal at home and people can choose whatever social life they want. But they have no demands to make on me, the state. ”In the same debate, he admitted to being“ a proud homophobe ”.

In July 2015, following the knife attack by ultra-Orthodox extremist Yishai Schlissel on the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem, Smotrich called the event a "derogatory parade" and refused to apologize for what he said.

In August 2015, Smotrich accused LGBT organizations of controlling the media, claiming that these organizations wanted to silence conservatives like him.

Smotrich advocates the death penalty for terrorists.

In August 2019, Smotrich criticized a court decision that prohibited the planned gender segregation at a concert for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Afula . He described the ban as "secular coercion" and called on the religious parties to campaign for a change in the law that would allow gender segregation in public spaces. Religious communities should have the right to live by their beliefs.

In October 2019, Smotrich said that the Jews are the “landowners of the Land of Israel” and stated: “Whoever denies the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state has no place here, period end. Not even in the Knesset. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Israel has two new ministers | Tachles. Retrieved June 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Bezalel Smotrich: Small following, big mouth - Israel News - Jerusalem Post. Retrieved November 18, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Jewish Home faction Tekumah selects Knesset candidates , the Times of Israel , January 12, 2015
  4. ↑ «No space here» | Tachles. Retrieved October 30, 2019 .
  5. ^ David Israel: Watch Bezalel Smotrich Teaching Arab MKs About the 'Palestinian Invention'. Retrieved May 7, 2020 (American English).
  6. ↑ Tomer Persico:ההכרעה של סמוטריץ '. In: Haaretz , May 16, 2016;
    Amira Hass :דור פלסטיני חדש. In: Haaretz , May 17, 2017
  7. ↑ Michael Bachner: MK back on Twitter after saying Palestinian teen deserved to be shot. In: The Times of Israel of April 24, 2018, accessed October 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Israeli lawmaker: My wife wouldn't want to give birth next to an Arab woman - Israel News - Haaretz.com. Retrieved February 24, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Jewish Home Boasts hopeful of being 'proud homophobic' . ( timesofisrael.com [accessed November 19, 2018]).
  10. ↑ Smotrich: LGBT community attacks, slanders anyone who thinks differently from them . In: The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com . ( jpost.com [accessed November 19, 2018]).
  11. ^ Bayit Yehudi MK: Gays control the media . In: Ynetnews . August 15, 2015 ( ynetnews.com [accessed November 19, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Netanyahu vows to freeze Palestinian funds after teen killed. Retrieved February 14, 2019 (American English).
  13. ↑ Smotrich slams ruling barring separate seating at haredi concert. Retrieved August 15, 2019 .
  14. ↑ «No space here» | Tachles. Retrieved October 30, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Smotrich, Bezalel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smotrich, Bezalel Joel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Israel