Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed Saudi Arabia’s presumed demand for Palestinian statehood as a precondition for normalization on Thursday, sneering at a Tzomet Institute conference that the kingdom should “keep riding camels in the Saudi desert” while Israel “innovates.”

The far-right minister’s remarks, widely condemned as racist and laced with Orientalist bigotry, coincided with the Knesset’s preliminary approval on October 21 of a bill to annex swaths of the occupied West Bank — a provocative step that threatens to dismantle prospects for Palestinian self-determination.

Smotrich’s comments landed as Israel’s war on Gaza has left more than 68,000 Palestinians killed and over 170,000 wounded, with a UN-backed inquiry and major rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, describing the campaign as genocidal.

Smotrich later issued a partial apology, calling his phrasing “not successful,” but reiterated that Riyadh must not “deny the heritage, tradition, and rights of the Jewish people” in the occupied territories.

His comments drew sharp criticism across the region. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denounced the statement as racist and emblematic of Israel’s contempt for its neighbors, while Israeli opposition figures also condemned the language.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly insisted it will not normalize ties without a credible, time-bound path to Palestinian statehood.