"We call on persons who have been called to high office within the Israeli government to show the required dignity, to respect that of others, and to refrain from all action or declaration that could contribute to the escalation of tensions," the foreign ministry said, after Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made the comments on Sunday in Paris.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the minister’s remarks “certainly cannot be tolerated.”

“I have to deplore this unacceptable comment. It is wrong, it is disrespectful, it is dangerous, it is counter-productive to say these kinds of things in a situation that is already very tense,” Borrell told reporters after chairing a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers.

“Could you imagine if a Palestinian leader would have said the state of Israel does not exist. What would have been the reaction?” he added.

Borrell called on the Israeli government “to disavow those comments and to start working with all parties to defuse tensions.”