by Amir Tibon at Haaretz
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said out loud what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu truly thinks: That the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas should be sacrificed on the altar of messianic aspirations and perpetual war
The Israeli government has spent millions of shekels over the past year on television advertisements centered around the issue of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and still held by the terror group in the tunnels of Gaza. In international media, government spokespersons frequently cite the hostages as the primary reason for the ongoing war in Gaza. This conflict has already become the longest in Israeli history and appears to have no end in sight.
But domestically, the same government is promoting a very different discourse, one that treats the hostages as a distraction and a burden, not as the war’s most important goal. On Monday morning, two cabinet ministers said it plainly in radio interviews and received no pushback at all from the Prime Minister. Essentially, they spoke on his behalf, expressing aloud what he only dares to say in private.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem last week. Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP
The most transparent member of the government is also its most fanatical and messianic figure, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. He stated on a right-wing radio station that while returning hostages to their families is important, it is “not the most important goal.”
He went on to explain that Israel should focus on fully taking control of the Gaza Strip and relocating the local Palestinian population out of the coastal enclave (though he did not specify where or how this would be done) rather than prioritizing the rescue of the hostages who were kidnapped under his watch.
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar,…
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