BICOM

Re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday publicly apologised to Israel’s Arab citizens for “hurt” caused to their community by comments he made on election day. In one of many videos uploaded by his office to social media, in an attempt to persuade right-wing voters to cast their ballot for his Likud party, he referred to “Arab voters” being bussed to the polls “in droves” by foreign-funded left-wing organisations.

He has since sought to explain his remarks as being a condemnation of foreign-funded efforts to remove him from office, not any negative statement on Arabs voting.

His apology was covered widely by the Israeli media as well as by the Guardian and the Independent in the UK. He said: “I know the things I said a few days ago hurt some Israeli citizens. This was never my intent. I apologize for this. My actions as Prime Minister, including massive investment in minority sectors, prove the exact opposite … I think, similarly, that no element outside the State of Israel should intervene in our democratic processes … I see myself as the Prime Minister of each and every one of you, of all Israeli citizens without differentiating between religions, races and sex. I see in all Israeli citizens partners in building the State of Israel.”

The apology has been rejected as insufficient by the Joint List, a coalition of three Arab parties that is now the third largest faction in the Knesset.

The White House, which had criticized his original comments, welcomed the apology.