The US State Department spoke out strongly against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said at a conference last week that Havara should be “erased”, after the attack in which the brothers Hillel Weigel Yaniv Hid of Mehr Bracha were murdered and apologized for the words, but refuses to say whether it is boycotting the minister who is to arrive to the USA next week.
The American Jewish website Forward claimed today (Wednesday) that senior officials in the Biden administration refused an invitation to speak at a conference of the Bonds organization after the organizers refused to cancel the Finance Minister’s appearance at the event.
The report claims that the demand followed the Israeli minister’s statement regarding Hawara, but officials in the organization point out that those who refused to speak did so long before Smotrich’s statement and claimed – with the encouragement of a number of Jewish organizations affiliated with the American left – that they refuse to participate in any conference in which Smotrich takes part .
Previous reports claimed that the administration was boycotting the Israeli minister and even considered preventing his entry into the US. This was after a spokesman for the US State Department attacked Smotrich’s words last week in a sharp and unusual manner, saying: “These are irresponsible, disgusting and repugnant statements. We condemn these provocative statements that amount to incitement and call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to publicly disavow them and oppose these statements. We condemn extreme acts and terrorism in all its forms.”
Then the US ambassador to Israel was quoted as saying in closed conversations with senior Israeli officials: “I’m really angry with him. he is stupid He has a flight to Washington with Danny Neve and if I could, I would throw him off the plane.” The US Embassy denied the allegations.
Ahead of the visit, a number of left-wing Jewish organizations approached the State Department in an attempt to exert pressure that the US would not admit Smotrich into its territory. They were met with a blank. A number of rabbis and Reform and Conservative leaders also took a similar step and even stated that they would not admit the Israeli minister into their community.
A perusal of one of the letters sent to the State Department reveals that it is signed by organizations that are not even considered to be Israel’s biggest supporters on a daily basis, although some of them identify as such, including the Jewish left lobby J-Street and the Shalom Now organization in the USA.
Channel 7 contacted the State Department several times regarding the treatment of Minister Smotrich. The State Department preferred to avoid a direct answer to the question of the relationship to the Minister of Finance. She avoided answering direct questions such as ‘does the government actually boycott the Israeli finance minister’ or ‘does every statement that the government does not like from a minister in a friendly country respond with the same firmness’. Another question raised about reports that the US would not assist the minister in obtaining a diplomatic visa, an unprecedented step, was answered in response to Kony stating that the Americans do not publicly engage in their visa policy towards specific individuals.
An official in the American administration estimated that the media frenzy got the whole story out of control. “There is no intention to boycott this or that minister in the Israeli government. No one will prevent the granting of a diplomatic visa either. If the Israeli minister had requested a meeting with his counterpart – it is likely that one of these would have occurred. As far as we know, no meeting with any government agency was requested and therefore there is none “.
We note that Minister Smotrich’s visit to the USA is very focused on the Bundes conference and he will stay in the USA for only one day. The organization did not give up on his arrival, even though they know that demonstrations outside the hall are expected, because the tradition is that the Minister of Finance participates in the event. Due to the tight schedule (Smotrich continues from the USA to Panama and France) his office never requested meetings with the Biden administration and never received a refusal.
An Israeli political official added his own assessment: “The messages allegedly directed at Smotrich are directed by the administration towards Prime Minister Netanyahu and the legal reform. He is looking for an address and the Minister of Finance with his statement simply summoned the administration the opportunity for this reprimand.”