Chikli calls Macron ‘not a serious leader,’ criticizes UK over Israel
'Macron is an embarrassment, not a leader, not a serious man and his speech is just a joke,' Chikli told i24NEWS.
Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli took aim at Western leaders on Wednesday during an interview on The Rundown.
Chikli said French President Macron was "not a serious leader" and he was "very weak politically" after Macron claimed that Hamas was not present in the West Bank. Although President Macron's team said this was a mistranslation, Chikli pointed to similar comments made nearly a year before.
Chikli said he hoped that after the upcoming elections in France we would see "a much more serious government understand the threat that is coming from radical Islam, from Hamas, from Iran."
"Macron is an embarrassment, not a leader, not a serious man and his speech is just a joke," Chikli said.
He then turned to the UK and said that he felt the UK government was very weak and unable to stand up to pressure.
He pointed to comments made by Labour Party MP Tahir Ali who called for "military action" against Israel as evidence that the country had gone down the wrong path. Ali later withdrew the comments and apologized following a backlash.
Turning to Israel, Chikli said the main lesson for Jewish people should be to "not withdraw from our land." He pointed to the withdrawal from the Gush Katif settlements, which were dismantled under Ariel Sharon in 2005 as evidence of the folly of withdrawal.
He called for increased settlement building and annexation of the West Bank, saying "that is why we need to make sure that we have full control over Judea and Samaria, to build more villages, to build more communities, and to strive."
He thanked US President Donald Trump for praising Israel during his address to the UNGA. "I was very flattered to be targeted, saying that we are a reliable ally, and I think that we showed that we you can depend on Israel. An alliance with Israel is a true alliance."
Chikli also pushed for renewed pressure against Iran so that the Iranian people could bring down the regime and "bring a future for the Iranian people and the entire region."