Smotrich tells Saudis to ‘keep riding camels’ over Palestinian state, later apologizes

“If Saudi Arabia offers normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state, my friends, no thanks. Keep riding camels in the desert sands of Saudi Arabia,” Smotrich said.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich released a video apology Thursday following a statement that if Saudi Arabia demands a Palestinian state as the price of normalization with Israel, it can “keep riding camels in the Saudi desert.”

“My statement on Saudi Arabia was certainly unsuccessful and I regret the offense it caused,” Smotrich said.

“I expect the Saudis not to harm us, not to renounce the heritage, tradition and rights of the Jewish people to their historic regions of Judea and Samaria, and to establish real peace with us.”

Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism Party, spoke at an event Thursday in which he presented Israel as standing at a “historic crossroads,” arguing that Jerusalem should decouple regional ties from the “false Gordian knot” of the Palestinian issue.

“There is not and there never will be a Palestinian government,” he said. “We are advancing peace agreements with those who can live with this. [a reality in which there is no Palestinian state]. There is a real feasibility of extending the Abraham Accords and realizing their economic, security and geostrategic potential.

He said the current government was moving forward with “de facto sovereignty” in the West Bank.

“During this term, we are doing something that has not happened in decades in Judea and Samaria,” he said, describing the application of Israeli authorities and policies in the territory as the “barometer,” or test, by which outside proposals should be judged. “If Saudi Arabia says normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state, my friends, no thanks. Keep riding camels in the desert sands in Saudi Arabia. We will continue to develop our society, our economy and our state, and all the wonderful things we know how to do.”

Smotrich undeterred by international pressure to recognize Palestine

Facing international pressure, Smotrich ignored sanctions imposed by foreign governments.

“The sanctions don’t affect me. I don’t fly to London,” he said. However, he warned against rejecting any initiative out of hand, recalling the “post-trauma” of the Israeli right when it considered ceremonies on the White House lawn as potential preludes to terrorist attacks.

“We must be categorical and clear that we will not achieve this, because many states concerned see this as a path to a Palestinian state. On the other hand, we should not say no to everything,” he said.

Smotrich reiterated that any diplomatic framework moving in the direction of a Palestinian state is, in his opinion, doomed to failure. Normalization should only take place with partners willing to accept Israel’s position, he said, adding that expanding the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties with several Arab states starting in 2020, remains possible without advancing Palestinian sovereignty.