Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett engaged in an argument with a CNN host on Wednesday while discussing the situation in occupied Jerusalem and the repeated incursions of Israeli police into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, referring to Palestinian territories as "disputed."
Bennett told the American host, who asked why Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque: "The responsibility of the Prime Minister of Israel is to provide freedom of worship for everyone in Jerusalem, including Muslims, and that's why I had to send police officers to remove the rioters, and I was successful. When faced with violence, you must act decisively," according to the "Times of Israel" website.
Referring to the confrontations at the Al-Aqsa compound, Bennett stated that police entered the mosque after being pelted with stones from inside. He told the host: "There you go again, starting the story from the middle."
The American host informed Bennett that "the West Bank has been occupied since 1967, and settlers are allowed to be there." Bennett responded, "This is a minority, and I recognize that, but they are there, and they are violent," subsequently accusing the American correspondent of lying.
Bennett continued after the host refused to label her a liar, saying, "You are distorting the facts. I am stating it's a small minority, and I object to the equivalence you are trying to create here."
He added, "Of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in West Bank settlements, there are several hundred, and perhaps fewer, who have used violence from time to time."
Bennett asserted that Palestinian territories are not occupied, stating, "These are disputed lands, and we have claims to the place, and so do they; they have claims. I understand that. No one is going anywhere; we need to find a way to live together. This is my job, to provide security for Israelis and dignity for Palestinians. I am working on this very seriously, and we are making progress," he concluded.
