Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) refused to apologize to Israeli residents of the Gaza border communities for the October 7 massacre in an interview with KAN Reshet Bet on Thursday, instead pointing an accusatory finger at the Oslo Accords and the disengagement.
“The oversight happened on the government’s watch, and I think (asking me to say) sorry is like blaming us, right? Like we did it intentionally, and I don’t believe in that,” Chikli stated.
“I’m saying the following: People who pushed for the Oslo Accords, who pushed for disengagement, these people need to apologize.”
Chikli said that there was a limit to how much he could listen to those who “all along, promoted exactly the things that brought us to these catastrophes.
“I opposed disengagement and the Oslo Accords. What do you mean, to ask for forgiveness from the residents of the border communities?”
Chikli says ‘underperforming’ security systems need examination after October 7
He clarified that, while he agreed that there had to be an examination into the serious security failure and some systems “underperforming,” he was not able to accept the way matters concerning October 7 were presented.
“When they present it as if I had intentionally harmed them, as if there was some kind of malice, I’m simply not there. Friends, we heard, goodbye, that’s enough,” he concluded, ending the interview.
