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Bezalel Smotrich's Greater Israel Map (i24NEWS, 2023)
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, on camera about borders stretching to Damascus and a larger Israel.
Smotrich's map of 'Greater Israel' sparks condemnation · i24NEWS English · uploaded 2023-03-20 · 4:04
Original: youtube.com/watch?v=KDZ15yHZUTs · IPFS QmSLgCErAYKqBxgk5sNfr9iiRp6q28pgc8UXEH8DsFpiDW
What this video is evidence for
Bezalel Smotrich is Israel's finance minister and leader of the Religious Zionism party, one of the most powerful members of Netanyahu's governing coalition. In March 2023 he spoke in Paris from a podium carrying a map of "Greater Israel" that included all of modern Jordan. In the same speech he said there is "no such thing as a Palestinian people."
This report is from i24NEWS, an Israeli channel. Its correspondent explains that the map is the historic emblem of the Herut movement, the forerunner of Netanyahu's Likud party, which "hasn't really been used... in recent decades." Jordan's foreign ministry called the speech "extremist, inflammatory, and racist" and "an act of reckless incitement" violating the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty. A Jordanian deputy speaker called on the army to "take up arms." Israel's foreign ministry had to state that Israel remains committed to the treaty and recognizes Jordan's territorial integrity.
Smotrich has gone further on camera elsewhere. In a 2024 documentary by the Franco-German broadcaster Arte, he was reported as saying that "the future of Jerusalem is to extend to Damascus." That clip is not in this video. When a sitting finance minister speaks this way, Greater Israel is no longer only a fringe idea; it is represented at the top of the government.
Where this fits: see Greater Israel for the full explanation and sources.
Transcript
Machine transcription (apple-speechanalyzer) of the full 00:04:04. It can mishear names and words, so check exact wording against the video before quoting it.
And joining us in the studio, Middle East Correspondent, uh, Ariel Ostromen, um, uh, plus in Betslos Moches in his past, in his career, he said stuff like this. But now that he's the Israeli finance minister, top minister, they're gonna generate some reactions. This is, unfortunately, becoming a weekly international outrage that he's invoking the finance minister. Look, the Jordanians, for starters, did not like the statement, but even less, the setting of the stage, with Smotic, giving the stating, uh, on, on, he gave the address with, on the podium, was a map of Greater Israel, that includes parts of modern day Jordan, and that's what got among, uh, to blast the, the statement, and the foreign ministry called Smotrich's, uh... I just want to know if that's the historical symbol of the Hehrut movement, which is the forerunner of today's Liqud Party, but dates back many decades.
It dates back many decades, and it hasn't really been used, and mainstream, right, at least in recent decades, it is seen as a symbol that is championed by more, at least in the earlier parts, more right wing groups. But in Amand, they blasted what they called Smortrich's, quote, extremist inflammatory, and racist statements, as well as, of course, the use of the map of parts portraying Jordan as part of the Jewish state. But, um, we did... In this statement, by the foreign ministry, they said that Smortridge's actions constituted an act of reckless incitement, as well as a violation of international norms, and the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan. And this is, I think, that what got Israelis worried.
And a reaction from Israel's father. Before the reaction from the foreign ministry, the deputy speaker of Jordanian Parliament took it a step further, calling on the Jordanian military to, quote, take up arms, and saying that all options should be on the table for Jordan, given the extremist statements, according, this is by the deputy speaker, Ahmed al Khalailah, but as you mentioned, the Israeli foreign ministry was pressed to issue a statement, affirming that, quote, Israel is committed to the 1994 piece agreement with Jordan, there has been no change in the position of the state of Israel, which recognizes the territorial integrity of the Hashemite kingdom. This is a tweet that the ministry, foreign ministry, tweeted in Hebrew and in English. Now, in addition to Jordan, we also, Egypt condemned the statement saying that it undermines efforts to lower tensions, again, this came the same day as the Peace Summit, or the security summit in Sharma Sheikh, where Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, as well as American delegations, sat together to try and quell tensions, but also Palestinian president Muhammad Staye, condemned their remarks at the beginning of the Palestinian government meeting. Let's take a listen to what he said.
The statements made by Israeli Minister Smutrich, that there are no Palestinian people, and that the state of Palestine was invented in the last 100 years, are conclusive evidence of the extremist racist and Zionist ideology that governs the parties of the current Israeli government. This land is ours, and Israel is a colonial state established by colonialists and settlers, and it expanded like any other settler colony throughout history. We have learnt from history that colonialism will end, and that the will and belonging of our people will not be shaken by the statements of the falsifiers of history and their incorrect claims. And we should know, no retraction or response clarification from the finance minister who has walked, did walk back his previous comment. For her wiping out how are you?
Oh, no, no statement. Nothing yet, but maids to be seen, if something may come.
Last Updated: 2026-09-27