Ben-Gurion should have 'thrown out' all Palestinians in 1948, Israeli MP tells Knesset

An Israeli Knesset member lashed out at Palestinian parliamentarians on Wednesday, saying the founder of Israel should have "finished the job" of expelling them from their homeland.

"You're only here by mistake, because Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job, didn't throw you out in '48. I have no dialogue with you at all," shouted Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionist Party and close to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He called the Palestinian Knesset Members "enemies and terrorist supporters."

Netanyahu ally Bezalel Smotrich to Arab Knesset members: "You're only here by mistake, because Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job, didn't throw you out in '48. I have no dialogue with you at all," the self-described proud homophobe said, calling them enemies and terror supporters. pic.twitter.com/KLc4GHMfOM

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) October 13, 2021

David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder of Israel, which was founded in 1948 when tens of thousands of Palestinians were evicted from their homes and made refugees in neighbouring countries.

There are roughly 1,890,000 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, around 20.95 percent of the total population.

Smotrich said Israel should remain a "Jewish and democratic state."

The Arab Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman slammed Smotrich’s "fascist" remarks.

"We are subject to this fascist filth almost every day in the Knesset," said Touma-Sliman.