Video: Benjamin Netanyahu Accidentally Calls Arabs Goats

In an effort to mend rifts with Israel’s Arab minority, Benjamin Netanyahu just called them goats.

The Prime Minister is believed to have accidentally mispronounced the words “Muwatinuna al arab al aezaa”, and apparently “al aezaa” translates to goats in Israel’s Arabic dialect.Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi of the Joint List (an Arab-Israeli political coalition) was the one to point out Bibi’s gaffe. 

According to Mondoweiss, Joint List Leader Ayman Odeh responded to Netanyahu’s statements, saying he questioned the sincerity of the Prime Minister's words. “Could this be the same prime minister who tried with all his might to block the economic development plan for Arab municipalities, who attempted to add more and more conditions, so that the plan would be completely impractical?” Odeh wondered. 

“Is this the same prime minister who incited against Arab citizens during the elections, and who since then has only intensified his incitement against us? When I saw that he chose to appeal to us in English, I understood the true purpose of his message, and to whom it was really directed. So, I say to the Prime Minister, in the name of the Arab public: We don’t buy this hypocritical charade,” he continued.

In the video, Bibi is apologising for comments he had made last year during the general election when he addressed his predominantly ultra-orthodox Zionist extremist supporters, asking them to go vote because Arabs were voting in “droves.”

His remarks were decried by his political opponents at home, and political and public figures around the world, who deemed his comments racist. This included Israeli-American Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, who said she was disappointed by his re-election, and called his statements "horrific." 

“Before my election, I said Arabs voters were going to the polls in droves,” began Netanyahu, “I was referring to a specific political party, but many people were understandably offended. I apologised for how my comment was misunderstood,” Netanyahu says. “But today, I want to go further. Today, I am asking Arab citizens in Israel to take part in our society — in droves. Work in droves, study in droves, thrive in droves,” he added.

(Photo credit: Reuters)