Jews and Arabs should not live next to one another, the Jerusalem Post on Friday quoted Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Attias as saying.

"We can all be bleeding hearts, but I think it is unsuitable to live together," the the minister was quoted as telling the Israel Bar Association in Tel Aviv.

"Arabs don't have anywhere to live, so they buy apartments in places with a Jewish nature, which causes unwanted friction," said Attias, of the religious Shas party.

In a reference to Arab Israelis, he also complained about "the expansion of a population that doesn't love the state of Israel, to say the least."

The English-language newspaper quoted Arab-Israeli MP Ahmed Tibi as lashing out at Attias.

"Relating to Israel's Arab citizens as something threatening and foreign, coming from a minister in a government that should be distributing resources (equally) borders on violating the law against incitement and racism," Tibi said.

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AFP

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