Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed the hostage solidarity protests as a leftist ploy and urged Netanyahu to launch a decisive military campaign to completely destroy Hamas before winter.
On Sunday night, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionists) released a fiery video statement slamming the nationwide protests for hostages in Gaza as a failure and a leftist manipulation aimed at toppling the right-wing government.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at the end of a day that began with bombastic declarations by left-wing organizations who wanted to organize a day of protests and stop the country,” Smotrich said. “What happened in practice? Nothing. The State of Israel didn’t stop for a minute.”
He claimed that only “a few thousand out of ten million” actually participated in the road-blocking demonstrations, dismissing the impact as minimal.
While stressing solidarity with hostage families, Smotrich accused organizers of “cynically exploiting their pain” to undermine the government.
Turning directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Smotrich delivered a blunt call:
- No more partial deals with Hamas.
- No more stopping halfway.
- Order the IDF to charge into Gaza’s central camps, topple Hamas’s last strongholds, and bring home all the hostages.
“It could be that lately you were a bit too spooked by the campaign against the war,” Smotrich warned Netanyahu, insisting that the nation stands firmly behind victory.
He concluded with a rallying cry:
“Mr. Prime Minister, let us, together and with G-d’s help, bring total victory for the people of Israel before the winter. Total victory in one blow.”
