At Knesset meeting, Smotrich says hostages’ families are heard ‘too much’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the voices of relatives of hostages held in the Gaza Strip are heard “too much,” as he argued with Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of slain captive Yoram Metzger, during a Knesset committee meeting Tuesday.

It was the latest heated clash between coalition members and the families of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza that have in the past seen shouting matches, meetings aborted, and family members ejected or barred from attending the gatherings, with government members appearing indifferent or antagonistic to the families.

During a special committee session held for families of reservists and security service members, Metzger decried the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip and urged the government to reach a deal to return the hostages held by terror groups.

“We thought that we were serving in the Israel Defense Forces and not the army of God’s vengeance. In these very moments, we are murdering hostages, and there is a deal on the table,” she said, adding that the government has chosen “to bury more hostages and soldiers, something that nobody wants.”

“There is a deal on the table, go discuss it,” she urged.

Apparently frustrated at their presence in the meeting, Smotrich, a far-right minister who voted against the hostage release and ceasefire deal,  asked the relatives of the hostages, “Why do you think you are allowed to shut others’ mouths?”

“We heard you. Get out. We are continuing. Stop thinking you have the right to take control of the conversation and not allow others to think differently from you. We too paid a price. Let’s not have a competition,” he said.

סמוטריץ' באמירה מזעזעת לבני משפחות חטופים: "שומעים אתכם יותר מדי בכל מקום. החוצה. שלום ולא להתראות" pic.twitter.com/mkOmNepmVa

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Smotrich then called in Knesset guards to escort the hostages’ relatives out of the room.

Another relative present in the committee said, “Nobody is hearing us anywhere,” before a Knesset guard approached to escort him out.

“We hear you too much,” Smotrich said.

The altercation came amid the collapse of a ceasefire that halted 15 months of war that began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led some 5,000 attackers to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting hundreds as hostages, mostly civilians.

A complex ceasefire was reached in January that included the phased release of hostages. Smotrich opposed the deal but agreed to support it on condition that the war to destroy Hamas resumed after the first of its three stages, even though some hostages would still be left in Gaza.

Families of those still held in Gaza fear that their loved ones could be killed or left to languish in captivity.

Throughout the war, the families of October 7 victims and hostages have been attending Knesset committee meetings where they are granted time to voice their opinions. However, committee chairs have often pushed back against the families over remarks they make or for taking up too much time.

Earlier this month, a Knesset meeting on establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failure surrounding the Hamas attack — which is opposed by the government — was marred by violent clashes between hostages’ family members and Knesset guards.

Yoram Metzger, 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7. In June 2024, the IDF confirmed that he had been slain in captivity.

In August 2024, his body was recovered by IDF troops from Gaza and returned to Israel for burial, alongside those of Yagev Buchshtav, Nadav Popplewell, Avraham Munder, Chaim Peri, and Alex Dancyg. An IDF investigation determined that the six were shot dead by their captors in mid-February 2024.