VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia has strongly criticized Israel's position through Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich who denied the existence of the Palestinian people in his speech in Paris some time ago.

"Indonesia strongly condemns the attitude of the Israeli Minister of Finance who denies the existence of the Palestinian people and does not respect the existence and territorial sovereignty of Jordan," wrote the official Twitter account for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday (22/3).

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed its stance to consistently support the struggle of the Palestinian people.

"Indonesia continues to consistently support the struggle of the Palestinian people and respect Jordan's territorial sovereignty," wrote the Foreign Ministry.

Smotrich sparked the anger of many parties after addressing a conference in Paris, France.

“Is there a genuine history or culture of Palestine? There isn't anything. There is no such thing as a Palestinian," he said in excerpts of a speech Sunday (19/3/2023) at a conference in France that was widely shared on social media.

Smotrich, who leads a nationalist-religious party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, delivered the speech the same day Israeli and Palestinian officials met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for de-escalation talks ahead of the holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover.

“Who was the first Palestinian king? What language do Palestinians speak? Was there ever a Palestinian currency?” he said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh strongly criticized Smotrich's remarks. He said it was an incitement to violence.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said that by denying the existence of the Palestinian people and their legitimate national rights in their homeland, Israeli leaders have encouraged an environment that fuels Jewish extremism and terrorism against the Palestinian people.

Bezalel Smotrich also angered neighboring Jordan for speaking at a podium covered with a variation of the Israeli flag that denotes the state of Israel with borders spanning the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Jordan.

Jordan, who made peace with Israel in 1994, also voiced outrage over the flag on the stage beside him. Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan al Majali said his ministry had summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest directly.

“This is irresponsible, provocative behavior by an incumbent minister and violates international norms and the Jordan-Israel peace agreement. This extremist behavior is pushing towards escalation,” said Sinan al Majali.

Majali said Jordan asked the Israeli government to take a clear and honest position. (VOI/Andy)