Smotrich
Smotrichצילום: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Israeli Foreign Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a gathering of French Jews Sunday that Israel should do more to combat Arab terrorism.

Speaking after a terrorist shooting attack in the Arab village of Huwara in Samaria Sunday afternoon, Smotrich made a veiled criticism of the Netanyahu government's handling of the ongoing terror wave, saying the government "does not do enough" to combat terrorism.

"I am fighting for this within the government. My job is to bring security and peace to the lives of the citizens of the State of Israel."

"I hoped that you will not remember my reaction, but I recall that a terrorist shot two young men, young people who had done nothing and who just wanted to pass through this village as thousands of Israelis do every day," i24NEWS quoted Smotrich as saying, referencing his comments after last month's terrorist shooting in Huwara, in which two brothers were murdered.

"Look at the festivities that followed the attack in the Palestinian villages... Maybe I didn't choose the right words to express my thoughts, but the State of Israel must fight more determinedly against terrorism."

“Our enemies, the terrorists, do not distinguish between right and left, secular and religious, settlers and Tel Avivians. They want to kill us because the Jews came back to the Land of Israel. I call on all Jews in Israel and around the world to be proud, to have faith, and to believe in the righteousness of our path. We have every moral right in the world to fight terrorism and to restore security for the citizens of the State of Israel."