In what appeared to be his first public response to Smotrich’s remarks since he made them on Wednesday, Netanyahu did not appear to condemn what the minister said outright. Smotrich, who leads the far-right, ultranationalist Religious Zionist Party, was widely condemned after he told a journalist with Israel’s 13 News that he thought the “the village of Hawara needs to be erased. Israel has long claimed the international community has a double standard in its expectations from its government and the Palestinian Authority