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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday repeated his position that releasing the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 massacre was not of primary importance for Israel. The far-right leader of the National Religious Party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partner said in a radio interview that returning the hostages was important, but not more than defeating Hamas.
"Truth must be told. Returning the hostages is not the most important goal," he said. "Let us decide to end with Gaza once and for all. Let's return the trust of the people and prove that we can achieve our aims and destroy Hamas."
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Bezalel Smotrich, protesters call for hostages to be released in a deal
(Photo: Gil Nechushtan, Dana Kopel)
Smotrich directed his comments to Netanyahu, saying there were no more excuses. "Biden is gone, Blinken is gone, Gallant is gone and there is no longer an IDF chief of staff who is preventing the blocking of humanitarian aid with his body. The alternative to capitulation is taking territory in the Strip and destroying Hamas."
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in response that the families of hostages have just one word for the minister: "Shame," but added that he at least was revealing the truth to the public. "The government decided to knowingly give up the hostages. Smotirich – history will remember how you closed your heart to your brothers and sisters in captivity and chose not to save them."
In a statement on Saturday, Netanyahu said Hamas rejected Israel's proposal to release hostages in exchange for a temporary truce. “If we surrender to Hamas' dictates now, all the significant achievements we’ve made thanks to our soldiers, our fallen and our wounded, will be lost,” he said.
In a later interview on Monday, Smotrich doubled down and said that after decades of claiming that there was no military solution to terror, Israel must now occupy Gaza and establish military rule. "We must take territory and realize the Trump plan to remove 1.5 to 2 million Palestinians from Gaza."
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Smotrich voiced the same view in the past and said he opposed the deals that brought about the release of hostages earlier in the year. "I thought it was a grave mistake that came at a very difficult price that we may have to pay later. I said then that I would remain in the government because I had an iron-clad commitment from the prime minister and defense minister that we would return to the fighting," he said.
"They informed me, unfortunately, that the effort now is to pressure Hamas to release hostages. I think that is a strategic error and a contradiction in terms," he added.
He said he expected Netanyahu to bring to the cabinet a decision to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. "I won't go into plans, there are several options. I stated my position, and it must be quick so that soldiers in the reserves could be relieved from duty. We have to stop being afraid of using the word occupation. There is no other way to achieve the goals of the war."
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Families of hostages expressed their dismay and outrage at the minister's words.
Sharon Cunio, who was abducted with her daughters and other members of her family during the massacre and whose husband, David, is still being held captive, addressed Smotrich in a post. "You visited my burned-out home at Nir Oz a few months ago, where our entire family was cruelly abducted from on your watch. You shed tears during our meeting and it seemed like you were moved. Was it all an act for the cameras?"
Lishi Lavi-Miran, whose husband, Omri, is held hostage in Gaza, thanked' the minister, who canceled a visit to her Kibbutz – Nahal Oz, scheduled for Tuesday, for saying publicly what Netanyahu was too scared to say. "For anyone who has not yet understood and for those who refuse to accept facts, the government had decided to give up on the hostages, contrary to the will of most Israelis, according to polling. It is no longer the release of hostages first. It is now the war above all else."