Ben Gvir again urges Smotrich to join forces, torpedo ‘reckless’ hostage deal

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tells the Kan public broadcaster that he will not support the ceasefire and hostage release deal currently on the table as he believes it is “reckless.”

After reports yesterday that he was hoping to involve Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party in a plan to torpedo the deal, Ben Gvir again urges him to join forces and vote against it.

“I won’t allow this reckless deal to happen,” he says. “I hope that Smotrich will join forces with me. We were elected with 14 mandates by people who do not want us to surrender in Gaza,” he says, stressing that Israel has a “historic opportunity” for victory there.

“We must not stop the war without victory,” Ben Gvir reiterates. “What do you think will happen if we stop the war now? That Hamas will hand out flowers?”

As he has often done in the past, the ultranationalist minister insists that the only thing standing between Israel and victory is the delivery of humanitarian aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“It was a giant mistake” to allow aid to begin entering the Strip again in late May after an almost three-month total blockade, he says. “I’m embarrassed that I was the only cabinet member who voted against it. If we want to win, we need to go all the way.”