Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the far-right, has engaged in a heated exchange with American model Bella Hadid over comments she made this week, which were condemned by Palestinians as racist. In an interview with (I24 News) on Wednesday, Ben Gvir stated that the right to life and movement for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank outweighs Palestinians' right to movement. Palestinians have long opposed movement restrictions imposed on them in the West Bank, where they have limited self-governance and seek to include it in their future state, including checkpoints.
Ben Gvir, who resides in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron in the West Bank, during the interview asserted that these restrictions are necessary to protect his family's security. He added, "My right, my wife's right, and my children's right to move on the roads of Judea and Samaria is more important than the Arabs' right to move,” using the Hebrew name for the West Bank.
Model Bella Hadid criticized Ben Gvir's comments on Instagram, where she has about 60 million followers. Bella Hadid’s father is Palestinian and openly supports Palestinian rights. In a post on Thursday, Hadid wrote, "No human life anywhere at any time, especially in 2023, should be more valuable than another human life, especially simply because of race or culture or outright hatred."
Ben Gvir responded on Friday, calling Hadid a "hater of Israel" and claimed she only shared part of the interview on her social media account to portray him as a racist. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned Ben Gvir’s statements on Thursday, stating, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemns the flood of racist statements and positions launched by... Ben Gvir, which continuously incite to entrench the occupation and deepen settlement."
The statement noted that the comments "summarize the current situation and daily life of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank" and that the fortified Israeli settlements "situated in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods... have turned the life of Palestinians into a continuous daily ordeal, making them feel continuously subjected to an apartheid regime." Israel rejects any suggestions that it follows a policy of apartheid towards Palestinians.
