RAMALLAH, June 8, 2016 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said, in a statement Wednesday, that systematic incitement by high-ranking Israeli officials against the Palestinian people promotes intolerance and hate among the Israeli public. 

Hamdallah’s statement came in response to a recent statement by Israel‘s Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel in which he urged the annexation of Area C in the West Bank and proposed removing “a few thousand Arabs.”

Jamal Dajani, Director of Communications & Media at the Prime Minister‘s Office, said: “This is not the first time that Israeli officials have indulged in demeaning, racist and dehumanizing rhetoric against Palestinians.”

“Palestinians must be treated as a people with rights and freedoms to be respected; not as an obstacle in the way of Israeli politicians‘ nationalistic ambition who seek to justify Israel‘s ‘Jewish character‘ at the expense of the indigenous population,” Dajani added.

Calls for "transferring Arabs" and the annexation of Area C to Israel have increased in recent months. Many members of Benjamin Netanyahu‘s cabinet are fervently in favor of the annexation, including the Minister of Judiciary Affairs Ayelet Shaked who said that she plans to apply Israeli law to Area C.

Over 60 percent of the West Bank is considered Area C, where Israel retains near exclusive control, including over law enforcement, planning and construction. Most of Area C has been allocated for the benefit of Israeli settlements, which receive preferential treatment at the expense of Palestinian communities, including with regard to access to land and resources, planning, construction, development of infrastructure, and law enforcement.

M.N