Religious Zionism Chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met five times over the past 24 hours with the rabbis of his party and discussed with them the further membership of the party in the government.
According to sources close to Smotrich’s circle, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to promote the outline of the deal President Joe Biden proposed on Friday, the finance minister may retire from the government even before the decision is announced. Already on Saturday evening, upon receiving the report on Biden’s statement, Minister Smotrich threatened together with Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir said they would withdraw from the government.
It should be noted that without his two national religious coalition partners, Netanyahu would be left with only the Haredim at his side, while the rest of his coalition is populated with his sworn enemies. Benny Gantz from within the coalition and Yair Lapid from the opposition will support a vote to accept President Biden’s brokered deal, and their next move would be to force national elections which Netanyahu’s Likud party is certain to lose.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said, “The deal, the details of which have been published, means renouncing the elimination of Hamas, renouncing the continuation of the war – it’s a promiscuous deal! There is no total victory here, but a total defeat before Hamas. I say that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to lead this deal – we will dismantle the government.”
Smotrich declared last Saturday night, “I have now spoken with the Prime Minister and made it clear to him that I will not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed outline and end the war without destroying Hamas and returning all the abductees.”
Smotrich explained: “We will not agree to ending the war before the destruction of Hamas, nor to inflicting serious damage on the achievements of the war so far through the withdrawal of the IDF and the return of Gazans to the northern Gaza Strip, nor to the wholesale release of terrorists who will return, God forbid, to murdering Jews.”
“We demand the continuation of the fighting until the destruction of Hamas and the return of all the hostages, the creation of a completely different security reality in Gaza and Lebanon, the return of all residents to their homes in the north and south, and a massive investment in the accelerated development of these parts of the country,” Smotrich said.
As the details of the latest Biden administration-brokered hostage exchange agreement with Hamas emerge, Smotrich’s stern objections were well founded:
FIRST PHASE (42 DAYS)
- Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages – living and dead, including women (civilians and soldiers), children under 19, in addition to soldiers, adults over 50, sick and wounded – in exchange for an agreed number of security prisoners from Israeli prisons.
- A temporary cessation of mutual military operations by both sides.
- The withdrawal of Israeli forces to the east and their removal from the populated areas all over the Gaza Strip.
- The cessation of IDF intelligence gathering in the Gaza Strip for 10 hours a day and for 12 hours on the days of the release of hostages.
- On the 3rd day of the first phase, after Hamas releases three hostages, “the Israeli forces will completely withdraw from A-Rashid Rd. east to Salah al-Din Rd., will completely dismantle the military posts in this area, and will allow the displaced to return to their areas of residence, unarmed and free to move. Humanitarian aid will be allowed to enter from A-Rashid Rd. from the first day without delay.
- On the 22nd day of the first phase, after Hamas releases half of the living civilian hostages, including female soldiers, Israeli forces will withdraw from the center of the Gaza Strip, especially from Netzarim and Kuwait Square, east of Salah al-Din Rd., to a nearby area. The military outposts will be completely dismantled. The return of the displaced to their places of residence in the north of the Gaza Strip will continue and the freedom of movement of the residents will be renewed all over the Gaza Strip.
- Humanitarian aid will be increased to 600 trucks per day, including 50 fuel trucks, of which 300 will go to the north of the Gaza Strip – including the fuel needed to operate the power plant. Equipment is needed to clear rubble and restore and operate hospitals, health centers, and bakeries all over the Gaza Strip, and this will continue throughout all phases of the agreement.
- This phase will be accompanied by negotiations between Israel and Hamas to achieve a permanent ceasefire.
- By the 16th day of the first phase, indirect discussions will begin between the two parties regarding agreement on the details of the second phase of this agreement as far as all the factors are concerned.
SECOND PHASE (42 DAYS)
- The announcement of a return to sustainable peace and the cessation of military operations to commence before the start of the release of the hostages and the terrorists between the two sides.
- All the surviving kidnapped Israeli men, both civilians and soldiers, will be released in exchange for an agreed number of terrorists held in Israeli prisons.
- Complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
THIRD PHASE (42 DAYS)
- Exchange of the bodies of dead hostages for security prisoners between the two sides.
- The beginning of the implementation of the rehabilitation plan for the Gaza Strip which will last 3-5 years, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations, and the complete lifting of the Israeli siege over the Gaza Strip.
In other words, over a period of 126 days, every last gain of Operation Iron Swords will be erased, and Hamas will be given the means to retake the entire Gaza Strip to prepare for the next attack on Israel.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli (Likud), criticized Biden’s offer at a conference in New York City on Sunday, saying, “We have no other choice, we must continue the war and subdue Hamas. We must return the hostages, it is our moral duty as a Jewish nation, but we must also look to the future of our children. Certain conditions cannot be accepted – the end of the war when Hamas functions as a military and political organization is unacceptable.”
“This is not a deal, this is a joke,” Chikli added. “Nazi Germany, and Japan, surrendered on their knees, and so should Hamas. We must eliminate Sinwar in Gaza as well as the leaders of Hamas in the Jacuzzi in Doha (Qatar).”
