Attorney General’s legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, upheld the decision not to open a criminal probe into Bezalel #Smotrich primarily because he repeatedly explained at the time that he did not intend to call on private citizens to commit violence but was urging the political and military leadership to act; she also cited the ambiguity of merely “liking” another’s tweet as insufficiently clear evidence of incitement and noted that the tweet’s author was not investigated, which weighed against accepting the human-rights groups’ appeal.

[…] Asked about a weekend settler rampage through the Palestinian village of Huwara, which an Israeli general on Tuesday described as a "pogrom," Smotrich said: "I think that Huwara needs to be erased". Smotrich added: "I think that the state of Israel needs to do it, but God forbid not individual people." State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that Smotrich's comments "were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting."

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-ministers-call-erase-palestinian-village-an-incitement-violence-us-says-2023-03-01/

[…] The organizations argue that the qualifier Minister Smotrich added at the conference is understood by extreme-right activists as a "wink," and they point in this context to then‑Shin Bet head Ronen Bar El’s letter to cabinet members about the "covert backing" the perpetrators receive. "One cannot but interpret the minister’s statements and publications as incitement and encouragement to continue carrying out pogroms in Huwara and other Palestinian villages," they say.

Hebrew https://www.the7eye.org.il/578726

#palestine #israel #SettlerViolence #colonilaism #apartheid #WestBank #Huwara