Israeli minister causes uproar by wishing Palestinians would 'disappear'

Coalition official has apologised for the remarks after footage was leaked online

Matan Kahana, politicians from the Yamina party, headed by Naftali Bennett, attends a consultation with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the President's residence in Jerusalem on April 5, 2021. AP

A member of Israel's government has been condemned by some politicians in the country after leaked video showed him telling pupils that he wished there was a button to make Palestinians “disappear on an express train to Switzerland”.

The incident has put further pressure on the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, which includes an Arab party.

Deputy religious services minister Matan Kahana was addressing high school pupils at a settlement in the occupied West Bank when he made the remarks, footage of which was given to Israeli broadcaster Kan.

Mr Kahana is a member of Mr Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party.

He said that because there was “no such button", Israelis and Palestinians would have to coexist.

”Therefore it seems we were meant to exist [together] on this land in some way,” he said.

The coalition government was created last year to force Benjamin Netanyahu out of office, but it has since struggled to overcome major policy differences.

Several defections from the coalition have left Mr Bennett’s government with a minority of representatives in the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body.

The coalition styled itself as a symbol of Arab-Israeli co-operation in a society where Israeli Jews and Palestinians often live separately and seldom interact.

The idea of forcible displacement is a sensitive subject for Palestinians, with many forced to flee their homes when the Israeli state was created in 1948 fled. More were uprooted during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Mr Kahana's remarks were criticised by politician including members of the coalition.

Opposition politician Ahmad Tibi tweeted that he would make Mr Kahana “disappear from the government and the Knesset".

Michal Rozin, a member of the coalition and part of the Meretz party, said Mr Kahana's remarks were “more than intolerable".

Mr Kahana said on Twitter that some of his comments were “worded poorly".

“I referenced that both Jewish and Arab populations aren’t going anywhere. As such, we must work to live in coexistence. Our coalition is a courageous step towards this goal," he said.