Israel minister: EU can go to a thousand hells

Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, Yuval Steinitz slammed the European Union yesterday, saying it could  “go to a thousand hells” after the body called for an investigation into police brutality against human rights activists last week in the city of Haifa.

In a statement on Tuesday the EU called for “a swift investigation into circumstances surrounding events last week in Haifa which appeared to result in serious injury of Jafar Farah, director of the NGO Mossawa, the Advocacy Centre for Arab Citizens in Israel.”

In response, the Israeli minister accused the EU of hypocrisy, adding that Farah was already being investigated by the Justice Ministry when the incident took place.

Steinitz explained that his comments were aimed at the European Union which doesn’t “really represent the European nations”.

“This is an organisation that no one is leading and is less friendly to Israel than the European states themselves,” he added.

Read: UN Human Rights Council demands probe of Gaza deaths

Meanwhile, Farah called on the European Union to sever its relations with Israel for its violation of human rights in the Palestinian territories and its crackdown on Arab protesters in Israel.

Farah accused the Israeli police of breaking his knee after he was arrested during a protest organised last week against the high death toll in Gaza.