According to a report by The Times of Israel on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu caused a stir during a special Knesset session commemorating Jerusalem Day and Students Day with comments he made regarding the Arab population of the country.
Following a speech delivered by Ra’am lawmaker Waleed Alhwashla during parliamentary procedures, the far-right minister, who represents the Otzma Yehudit party, made the comments.
When speaking to the assembly, Eliyahu asserted that the foundation of Israel had greatly enhanced the lives of Arab people, stating that without the establishment of the nation, Arabs “would still be riding camels.”
According to the minister, “They would still be riding camels” if the establishment of the State of Israel hadn’t enabled the people of Walid and his pals to pursue higher education.
The provocative nature of the statement and the history of criticism of camel allusions as racist in political speech involving Arabs caused it to garner attention rapidly.
According to the report, this is not the first instance where a high-ranking Israeli official has been criticised for remarks along these lines. Last year, Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance, faced criticism for bringing up the prospect of a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia.
Reportedly, Smotrich said that he would not back a deal that called for the creation of a Palestinian state and sarcastically told the Saudis to “keep riding camels.” Opponents and detractors of the politician levelled racist accusations in response to the remark.
Provocative speech has also landed Eliyahu in trouble in the past. When the minister, in response to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, called for the use of a nuclear bomb on Gaza, he provoked uproar and was widely condemned for his comments.
Disputes over Jewish-Arab relations and wider tensions related to the Israeli-Palestinian issue continue to be hotly debated subjects in Israeli public discourse, making this a politically sensitive era for the most recent remarks.
On the occasion of Jerusalem Day—a commemoration of Israel’s conquest of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War—and Students Day, the Knesset session that Eliyahu addressed was convened.