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Reports: US considering denying entry to far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration is considering denying entry to Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli minister who said a West Bank village should be “wiped out,” according to multiple reports from Israeli and U.S. media.
Smotrich, who is the finance minister and the minister responsible for civilian matters in the West Bank, has requested entry to address a meeting of Israel Bonds, the main Israel investment mechanism in the United States, next Sunday in Washington D.C.
Biden administration officials told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last week that they would not meet with Smotrich after he said the state, not private individuals, should “wipe out” Huwara, a West Bank village where a gunman recently killed two Israeli brothers and where Jewish settlers rioted in response.
Now, The Times of Israel, Axios and Israel’s Channel 12 news have all reported that U.S. officials are considering denying Smotrich entry to the country entirely.
Smotrich later walked back his statement about Huwara, saying he did not mean it literally. But that has not appeased the Biden administration: Ned Price, the State Department spokesman said Smotrich’s statement was “disgusting” and “incitement to violence.”
Price declined to comment to JTA on Sunday about whether his department was considering denying Smotrich entry.
Smotrich does not appear to have any public meetings planned outside the Israel Bonds session. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee will not meet with him, and the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations has said he agrees with Price that Smotrich’s comments were “disgusting.”
Liberal Jewish groups are planning to protest the meeting. A petition is circulating on WhatsApp asking Jews to call on Israel Bonds board members not to attend the speech, to call on Smotrich to cancel his appearance or to quit the board.
Israel Bonds works intimately with Israel’s finance ministry and has traditionally welcomed finance ministers to its events.
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The post Reports: US considering denying entry to far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.