Ben Gvir slams hostage deal, says it sets ‘dangerous precedent’

In a tweet this morning, Otzma Yehudit party chief Ben Gvir called the approved deal a “dangerous precedent” that repeats past mistakes — likely a reference to the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, in which over 1,000 terrorists were freed in return for one IDF soldier — and plays into the hands of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The extreme-right politician contends that while it had some upsides, “we have a moral duty to bring everyone back, and we have no right or permission to agree to the idea of separating them and only bringing some back.”

He slammed the deal for not securing the release of all women and children held in Gaza, branding it “immoral, illogical and very far from enough” and saying it “could and should have been different.”

“Hamas wanted this truce more than anything,” he charges. “It also wanted to ‘get rid’ of the women and children in the first stage, because they caused international pressure on it. It wanted to get, in exchange, fuel, the release of terrorists, halting IDF actions and even a [reconnaissance] flight ban. It got all of those.”

He urged stepping up IDF military actions on Hamas, with the goal of pressuring Hamas to agree to a comprehensive hostage deal. He said his party ministers voted against the deal “not without contemplation,” saying that all options at the moment were “bad.”