Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef has sparked controversy after making strong comments about Palestinians and Palestinian territories during a visit to the Gush Katif Museum in West Jerusalem on Thursday, August 21. Yosef denied that Palestinians are a people and said they had never been a people. He also said they “have no rights” to the land and claimed that the rights belonged to Jews. He further claimed that Gaza and the occupied West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin belong to Jews. According to reports, Yosef said that Jews should pray for the day when they could return to these places. Speaking about the former Jewish settlements in Gaza, Yosef referred to the destruction and desecration of synagogues after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005. He said that, because of this, Gaza should be destroyed and that Jews would return there. The Gush Katif Museum itself also published his remarks from the visit. Yosef is Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi and president of the High Rabbinical Court, according to the Israeli government. His remarks have drawn attention because they reject Palestinian national identity and make sweeping claims over Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank.