On Thursday local time, United Arab Emirates entrepreneur Khalaf Ahmed Habtar issued a solemn statement condemning the "provocative remarks" made by Israeli Finance Minister Bezarer Smotrih. The founding chairman of Al Habtoor Group said the minister had "insulted (Saudi Arabia), the largest Arab country, with ridicule and arrogance."
"If Saudi Arabia says to us' trade Palestinian state in exchange for normalization '-don't talk, friends. Let them continue to ride camels in the Saudi desert; and we will continue to truly develop-building the economy, society, the state, and all the great things we are good at creating," Smotrih declared in a widely spread video. Then the far-right minister posted a video on social media X apologizing for his so-called "improper" remarks.
But Habtal pointed out that a verbal apology cannot "erase such a serious insult." He stressed: "Please understand that anyone who regards normalization as a prerequisite for progress has no understanding of the development history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries-these countries have steadily advanced development and prosperity and have become a global model in energy, technology, investment and urban rejuvenation."
Responding to the suggestions in Smotrich’s remarks, Hubbard explained: “The relations between the Gulf states and Israel are by no means measured by the criteria of their progress. On the contrary, it is Israel’s need to coexist peacefully with its Arab neighbors to secure the future, not the opposite.”
The business leader called on the Arab world to form a unified position, asking: "Can we stop silencing in the face of such unbridled aggression?" He concluded sharply: "Dignity is not a slogan for the occasion, but a firm principle that must be defended by action and position-otherwise it will eventually become empty rhetoric."
Event background
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezarel Smotrich, apologized on Thursday for his remarks on Saudi Arabia, saying it was “regretting” and earlier claiming that if Saudi Arabia normalized relations with the establishment of a Palestinian state, it would “continue to ride a camel in the desert”, but also urging Saudi Arabia not to “insult Israel” and stressing that “anyone who denies our profound ties to the historic homeland of Judea-Samaria is insulting us” – a biblical term that Israel uses to refer to the West Bank occupied territory.
Smotrich, who lives in a settlement on the West Bank, is a public supporter of the incorporation of the Palestinian territory.Israel has been occupying the area since 1967.
Opposition leader Yil Rappid immediately condemned the statement, stating in Arabic on the X-Platform: “Smotrich does not represent the State of Israel” and asked for an apology. Another opposition figure, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, criticized the statement as “revealing ignorance and failing to fulfill his duties as a senior minister in the government.”
This article is from Khaleejtimes.