Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "is not a country of all its citizens" as the nation-state of the Jews but has "no problem" with Arab citizens, hitting back at criticism from an Israeli actress.
"First of all," he wrote in a Facebook message to actress Rotem Sela on Sunday, "an important correction: Israel is not a country of all its citizens. According to the Nation-State Law that we passed, Israel is the the nation-state of the Jewish nation - and its alone. As you wrote, there is no problem with Arab citizens - they have equal rights like everybody and the Likud government has invested in the Arab sector more than any other government."
Rotem Sela, a prolific TV host and star of The Baker and the Beauty, took to Instagram Saturday night to criticize Culture Minister Miri Regev and the journalist who interviewed her.
"Miri Regev is sitting and explaining to [Channel 12 news anchor) Rina Matsliah that the public needs to beware, because if Benny Gantz is elected he will have to create a government with the Arabs," Sela wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of the culture minister. "Rina Matsliah is silent. And I ask myself: why doesn't Rina ask her in shock: 'And what's the problem with the Arabs???' Dear god, there are also Arab citizens in this country."
Sela continued and asked: "When will anyone in this government tell the public that this is a country of all its citizens, and all people are born equal." The actress said that "the Arabs are also human beings. And also the Druze, and the gays, and the lesbians and... gasp... leftists."
But Netanyahu didn't let Sela's words go unanswered. On Sunday morning, the prime minister posted a message addressed directly to the actress on Facebook.
The prime minister also launched into his campaign motto: "It's either a strong right-wing government led by me or a weak left-wing government led by Yair Lapid and [Benny] Gantz with the support of the Arab parties."
The Arab political parties have repeatedly indicated that they would not join a Zionist government, and Blue and White leaders have said they don't need them in order to form a coalition.
Regev herself also responded to Sela on Sunday morning.
"Rotem, we have no problem with the Arabs," she wrote on Facebook. "We have in our party many Arab, Druze and Christian members. We have a problem with the hypocrisy and the masquerade ball of Lapid and Gantz, who are trying with all their might to hide from the public the fact that they're left-wing, and are dressing up as centrists." Regev added that Matsliah "didn't stop me because it's the truth. It's either Bibi or Tibi."
Sela is the popular TV host of a host of reality TV shows in Israel, including Hakochav Haba (Rising Star) and Ninja Israel, and appeared in the Israeli drama Autonomies last year. She is also a close friend of Israeli actress Gal Gadot; the pair have taken several vacations abroad together in recent months.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
