'Peace through strength, not extremism': Bill Ackman warns Israeli voters
The American billionaire urged Israel to exclude Ben-Gvir and Smotrich from its next government, warning that both ministers have caused enormous damage to Israel's global reputation
American billionaire Bill Ackman warned Israel against forming a new government with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a post on X on Monday.
https://x.com/i/web/status/2114284565581734185
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In the post, Ackman said that as he is not an Israeli citizen, he won't weigh in on who should be prime minister, but he wanted Israelis to hear his perspective as an American Jew who has stood up for Israel.
"Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have caused Israel enormous reputational damage with their statements and actions which are presented in the global media as representing the voice and will of all Israelis," he wrote.
Ackman said that forming a government without either of them would send a signal "to the rest of the world that Israel is turning a new page."
He said that this would allow Israel to rebuild lost credibility and expand the Abraham Accords.
He later wrote, "I believe in peace through strength, not peace through extremism."
Ackman has increasingly spoken out in defense of Israel in the US since October 7 and has made considerable strategic investments in the country, totalling nearly $100 million.
Ackman accompanied his wife, Neri Oxman, to Israel, where she intends to vote. He clarified that the Israeli public should not assume his views are identical to those of his wife and that they do not always agree on political matters.