Do we like them?

Do we like Bezalel Smotrich?

Our score: 1 out of 10. A long run of his own demeaning words about LGBTQ+ people and Palestinians, sanctions from five governments, and no verified good deeds to set against it.

Smotrich is Israel's Finance Minister and leads the Religious Zionism party, which ran in 2026 on a joint list with Moshe Feiglin's Zehut. He has spent years as one of the loudest voices of the far right in Netanyahu's government. Here we're sticking to what he's said and done, because that's what the page is for.

On LGBTQ+ people, the record is in his own voice. A recording published by Kan in January 2023 reportedly had him saying he could take steps against the LGBT+ community without losing his voters. In it he said “I may be a far-right person, a homophobe, racist, fascist” before adding that he would not stone gays. Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the remarks, as did the head of LGBTQ group The Aguda. The coalition also planned to change anti-discrimination law so private businesses could refuse services on religious grounds.

In March 2023 he said that the West Bank town of Huwara “needs to be wiped out”, after two Israeli brothers were shot dead there, adding that the state, not private citizens, should do it. He apologised on Facebook a week later, saying he had been told pilots feared what he meant. Within weeks he told a Paris audience “There is no such thing as Palestinians”. The EU and Egypt condemned that speech, so the apology did not change the pattern.

In August 2024 he said that starving two million people in Gaza “might be justified and moral” to free the hostages, though he added that the world would not allow it. The UK's foreign secretary asked Israel to retract it, and the EU said deliberate starvation of civilians is a war crime. In June 2025 the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway sanctioned him and Itamar Ben Gvir, saying they had incited extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The pattern keeps showing up. In August 2025 he was photographed smiling beside “Death to Arabs” graffiti at a former settlement. His office said it was only noticed after the photo went out and that he completely disavows the message. In May 2026 he said a government with Arab party leader Mansour Abbas would be worse than 7 October, then said his words had been distorted and called the media who reported them “wicked and liars”. Opposition figures slammed him for it.

Going into the election he said his party wants to “cancel the damned Oslo Accords”, and Al Jazeera reports he backs encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinians describe that plan as ethnic cleansing. He has since seen his seat count slip from seven to six, but Netanyahu says he's staying in the bloc.