(JTA) — Speaking about the state of Israel’s government in an interview with Galatz, the Israel Defense Forces’ radio station, prominent Israeli author David Grossman suggested Israel’s occupation had turned into an “apartheid” regime.

“Maybe it should no longer be called an ‘occupation,’ but there are much harsher names, like ‘apartheid,’ for example,” he said in the interview Thursday.

Speaking about the Israeli government that took office earlier this year and is led by Naftali Bennett, Grossman called the new government “good and important.”

“But it cannot do the most important thing: cure Israel of the sick evil that is the occupation,” he said.

Grossman has used the word “apartheid” to describe Israel’s occupation before. The writer, who lost a son in the second Lebanon War in 2006, addressed a group of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at an event in 2018.

Grossman was honored with the Israel Prize, the country’s top civilian honor, in 2018, in recognition of his contributions to Hebrew literature. The prize is awarded by a committee appointed by the education ministry. At the time that Grossman was honored, Bennett was the minister of education.

“I know we don’t hold the same political positions, but it makes no difference,” Bennett said at the time, according to The Times of Israel.

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