Smotrich hits back at EU's Borrell over sanctions comment

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich fired back at EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell following Borrell's threat of sanctions against Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

On Sunday night, Borrell accused Smotrich and Ben Gvir of making "sinister statements" that he deemed incitements to war crimes, declaring: "Sanctions must be on our EU agenda."

Smotrich took to X to respond on Monday, accusing Borrell of siding "with terror". 

"In order to appease Hamas supporters in Europe, Borrell has decided he’s even willing to sacrifice the people of Gaza just so he can attack Israel while it fights the war of the entire western civilisation against the barbaric genocidal Hamas as well as the Iranian axis of evil that threatens western society in its entirety," Smotrich said. 

"There will be a time in which Europe will be ashamed of Borrell and the double standard that he and many of his friends have applied to Israel while siding with actual terrorists," he added. 

"This war requires the choice between good and evil, and clearly, Borrell has chosen the wrong side of history."

Borrell, who doesn’t stop misleading the public by claiming that the IDF’s retaliatory bombing in Gaza is worse than that of Nazi Germany, and who had the audacity to call the IDF’s Operation Arnon aimed at rescuing the hostages a “massacre of the Palestinian people” has clearly… https://t.co/VWIiYd3EQT

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) August 12, 2024