Israeli Minister Denies Existence of Palestinian People

Israeli Finance Minister and head of the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, declared that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people and that he and his family are the "real Palestinians" during a private memorial service in Paris. Smotrich has a history of making inflammatory statements against Palestinians, Arab citizens of Israel, non-Orthodox Jews, and the LGBTQ community. He also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, where coalition agreements gave him authority over some responsibilities of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).