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American model and BDS activist Bella Hadid on Thursday, posted comments made by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claiming his right to travel safely in the West Bank precedes that of Palestinians - as proof of Israel's policy of apartheid. Ben-Gvir spoke on Channel 12 News days after a terror attack near Hebron which resulted in the murder of a 40-year-old mother of three from a nearby settlement.
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CONTROVERSY SPARKS AS MODEL BELLA HADID CRITICIZES ISRAELI MINISTER'S STATEMENTS
(ILTV)
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"My right, my family's right and my children's right to travel safely on the roads comes before the right to travel for Palestinians. The right to life comes before the freedom of movement, and that is just the way it is," He said.
Hadid, known for her support of the Palestinian cause and frequent criticism of Israel's policies in the territories, weighed in on the National Security Minister's comments to her 60 million Instagram followers. "In no place, no time, especially in 2023 should one life be more valuable than another's. Especially simply because of their ethnicity, culture, or pure hatred," she said in her post.
Following the criticism against him, Ben-Gvir sought to clarify his remarks: "This is how fake news is spread. I said yesterday on a TV broadcast that the right of Jews to live and not be murdered in terror attacks prevails over the right of Arabs in Judea and Samaria to travel on the roads without security restrictions. That is why checkpoints should be placed on roads where request terror attacks and shooting by Jihadists are committed against Jews," he wrote. He then turned his anger towards the media which he claimed had taken his words out of context and the Israeli left-wing whom he said "continues to fan the flames of incitement in the world against the Israeli government. Because of their cynical strategy, we now witness a surge of Israel haters attacking me and the State of Israel."
Ben-Givr, who was a disciple of the racist Meir Kahane branded a terrorist by the U.S. and barred by the Supreme Court from being elected to the Knesset, before his murder in the U.S. in 1990 - was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to serve in his government despite having been convicted in the past of terror-related offenses.
He claimed that he had tempered his past radical views when he ran in the elections and offered as proof of his milder positions the fact that he had removed a portrait from his living room wall, of a prominent settler who massacred 21 Muslim worshippers in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in 1995.
The BDS and other critics of Israel have been promoting the claim that Israel was advancing apartheid policies on the West Bank, a claim Israel rejects.