Ben Gvir says he repeatedly foiled a hostage deal over the last year, sparking outcry

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparks an outcry when he says that he has repeatedly foiled a hostage-ceasefire deal over the past year.

In a post on X together with a video in which he calls on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will bolt the coalition if the deal goes through, the Otzma Yehudit leader says that he has managed to stop previous efforts to reach a deal.

“In the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time,” he writes.

However, he says he now lacks the power to stop the deal because Netanyahu expanded the coalition by bringing in Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party.

“Recently other actors who support the deal have joined the government and we no longer hold the balance of power,” he laments.

His remarks draw an outcry from hostage family members and opposition politicians.

“He is openly admitting that he stopped a deal with his own hands for political gain,”  Gil Dickmann, a relative of Carmel Gat who was killed by her captors. “If it were not for him, Carmel would be alive today.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says Ben Gvir’s comments prove his accusations that the government was not making a deal for political reasons.

“For more than a year I have been saying that ‘they are not reaching a hostage deal for political reasons’ and everyone tells me that this cannot be, that it’s shocking, and how could I say such a thing,” Lapid posts on X.

“And today Ben Gvir puts out a video and says to the camera, without blinking, that is the terrible truth,” he say.