DayofPal– Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ignited widespread outrage by declaring that rescuing Israeli captives held in Gaza is “not the most important thing” for the government, placing the elimination of Hamas above all else, in a controversial radio interview on Monday.
“We have to say the truth, returning the hostages is not the most important thing,” Smotrich said during an interview with Galey Israel radio.
“It is obviously a very important goal, but if you want to destroy Hamas so that there can’t be another October 7, you need to understand that there can’t be a situation where Hamas remains in Gaza.”
Smotrich framed the current moment as a strategic opening for Israel, citing the nearing end of U.S. President Joe Biden’s term and the political marginalization of rivals such as former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and ex-IDF chief Herzi Halevi.
Calling it a “tremendous opportunity,” Smotrich argued that these changes removed obstacles to a hardline military campaign in Gaza. His remarks, however, have unleashed a firestorm of criticism from captives’ families, opposition politicians, and even coalition partners.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a scathing response: “The families have only one word this morning: shame. At least the minister is revealing the harsh truth to the public – this government has consciously decided to abandon the hostages.”
They added, “Minister Smotrich, history will remember how you hardened your heart to your brothers and sisters in captivity and chose not to save them – some from death, others from disappearance.”
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is among the captives in Gaza, did not hold back: “Smotrich is willing to sacrifice Israel and my son for his messianic and psychotic delusions,” she wrote on X. “We must throw out Smotrich and Netanyahu in order to bring all the hostages home!”
Prominent Haredi MP Moshe Gafni of the United Torah Judaism party also condemned Smotrich’s remarks, calling them akin to slander. “The return of the kidnapped is the most important issue,” Gafni stated, announcing that his party would convene to address the matter.
Undeterred by the backlash, Smotrich doubled down. “It’s a shame that you, Gafni, are also cooperating with the campaign to silence all those who refuse to surrender to Hamas,” he fired back. “They distort things and stoke the flames behind the families in order to harm the government.”
Smotrich has long been critical of diplomatic and humanitarian approaches to the Gaza war. In January, he slammed a now-defunct ceasefire deal approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, saying Netanyahu had “decided to give the green light to a bad, catastrophic deal.”
When Israel resumed the genocide in Gaza in late March, Smotrich praised the move, stating: “It’s good that the war has begun, and it’s unfortunate that it began this way, but we are changing the reality in the Middle East.”
As families of the captives and a growing chorus of critics call for renewed efforts to bring their loved ones home, Smotrich’s remarks have laid bare deep divisions within the Israeli government, and within Israeli society, about the human cost of war and the price of political ambition.
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