By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused the US on Monday of seeking to "drive a wedge" among Israelis.
The accusation came amid divisions over a visit by War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz to Washington for talks with top US officials, including Vice-President Kamala Harris.
"The US government is looking for places to drive a wedge between Israelis in order to advance its plans, with the help of Gantz," Smotrich said.
"In this way, Gantz is working to advance their [US] plans to establish a Palestinian state," he added.
Smotrich, the leader of the extremist Religious Zionism Party, urged Gantz to clearly declare his commitment to a decision by the Israeli government and the Knesset to reject a Palestinian state.
Last month, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) voted in support of a government decision to reject unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, Netanyahu opposed Gantz’s visit to the US and asked the Israeli ambassador in Washington not to deal with the trip as an official one.
Israel continued its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 30,534 people and injured 71,920 others since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
In late 2023, South Africa filed a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of failing to uphold its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar