"You Will Not Force Us Into Ghettos:" Smotrich Strikes Back at Merz Over Samaria

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the German leader expressed concern over Israeli policy in Judea and Samaria, escalating tensions between Jerusalem and Berlin.

Merz had said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation and warned that “there must be no de facto annexation” in the territory, prompting a forceful response from Smotrich.

In a post on X overnight, Smotrich rejected the remarks and accused the German leader of overstepping. “On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the German Chancellor should bow his head and apologize a thousand times on behalf of Germany, rather than daring to preach morality to us,” he wrote.

Smotrich also invoked the October 7 attacks, referring to Hamas terrorists and framing Israel’s current actions as part of a broader struggle against what he described as “the Nazis of our generation.”

Addressing Merz directly, Smotrich added: “The days when Germans dictated to Jews where they were permitted or forbidden to live are over and shall not return. You will not force us into ghettos again, certainly not in our own land.”

He further criticized European leadership more broadly, accusing it of hypocrisy and a failure to distinguish between right and wrong in the current conflict.

Merz’s comments reflect ongoing European concerns over Israeli policy in Judea and Samaria, particularly regarding settlement expansion and legal status. Israel has repeatedly rejected external pressure on the issue, framing it as a matter of national security and historical rights.

The exchange comes amid heightened diplomatic sensitivity ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, with rhetoric on both sides reflecting broader disagreements over the conflict and its international implications.