Far-right minister Smotrich says protests in Israel harm chances of hostages in Gaza

“The more that people protest against the government and in support of a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the less likely it is that they’ll be released,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tells Channel 12.

“Whoever looks you in the eye and says we’ll bring back all of the hostages alive is lying to you,” the right-wing minister says, stressing his belief that only continuing the war will lead to their release.

“There is nothing that hurts our chance of bringing the hostages home more than the protests,” he says, referring to the rallies organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which overwhelmingly calls for a second hostage deal to return the 136 people still held captive by Hamas and other terror groups.

The right-wing minister refuses to answer the question of whether or not he considers returning the hostages to be more important than eliminating Hamas from the Palestinian enclave, saying, “We have an obligation to destroy Hamas and make sure that they can’t return.”

He adds that anyone calling for a ceasefire or for Israel to withdraw is, in his eyes, helping the enemy.

Smotrich also says “there will be an Israeli military administration in Gaza” after the war.

He elaborates: “Because we all agree that we need to stay in Gaza and rule there militarily. And we won’t have military control if we don’t have civil control there. Nobody else will do it…”