MK Moshe Gafni slams Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s statement on prioritizing prevention of additional ‘October 7’ massacres, Smotrich fires back in kind. ‘He lives with a mindset of exile, needs to learn to respect Religious Zionist rabbis.’
MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) responded Monday morning to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s (Religious Zionism) statement that the hostages are important, but Israel must prioritize preventing another October 7 massacre.
“These statements equate them with the Sicarii of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai, for whom the nationalist issues were more important than human lives,” Gafni said. “And the Torah sages were not considered important in their eyes. They will always say, ‘We have our own rabbis.’ That’s what Smotrich’s statement looks like.”
Gafni also said that his party will hold a meeting this week to raise the matter with the Torah sages and formulate a position. Smotrich responded to Gafni’s statements, accusing him of wrongly equating the State of Israel’s current situation with that of the Second Temple Period.
“Those who still live with a mindset of exile and the feeling that the State of Israel is not the return to Zion and the ingathering of the exiles are able to conceive of a comparison of the current reality with that of the period in which the Temple was destroyed,” he said.
“Thank G-d, Gafni represents a small and shrinking minority in haredi society, most of which is coming closer to the State of Israel and natural health in the leaps and bounds of a nation which returned to its land after 2,000 years of exile and is rebuilding its national and religious home there.”
Regarding the war on terror, Smotrich said, “Victory over Hamas is also intended to protect human lives, and there is nothing that endangers our lives more than surrendering to a murderous terror organization and leaving it as part of the Gaza government, in possession of weapons, embittering the lives of the residents of southern Israel and preparing the next October 7 massacre.”
“It’s time that Gafni begin to respect the Torah sages of Religious Zionism, who are not less than the haredi Torah Sages – and even merit to fulfill additional Torah commandments, such as serving in a quality military to save Israel from its enemies’ hands and save lives in real time,” he concluded.
