JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed regret on Thursday for his “unfortunate” remarks about Saudi Arabia.

He had earlier in the day said Saudi Arabia could “keep riding camels” if it tried to demand an independent Palestinian state in return for normalising relations with Israel.

“My statement regarding Saudi Arabia was unfortunate, and I regret any offence it may have caused,” Smotrich said in a video statement posted on X.

Smotrich had told a conference in Israel that “if Saudi Arabia tells us normalisation in exchange for a Palestinian state, friends, no thank you”.

“Keep riding camels on the sand in the Saudi desert; we’ll keep truly developing _ with an economy, a society, a state and all the great and wonderful things we know how to do,” Smotrich said, prompting a sharp response in Israel.

Condemnation

Opposition leader Yair Lapid had swiftly denounced the comments.

“To our friends in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Smotrich does not represent the state of Israel,” Lapid posted on X in Arabic, later calling for him to apologise.

Former defence minister Benny Gantz, another opposition figure, said that Smotrich’s comments “indicate ignorance, and a lack of internalisation of his responsibility as a senior minister in the government and cabinet”.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2025