Report: Ben Gvir tells ministers hostage deal now is ‘slap for Trump, would be victory for Biden’

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told security cabinet ministers that he believes a hostage-ceasefire deal at this time will be “a slap for Trump, which would be a victory for Biden,” Channel 13 reports.

The outlet says the Otzma Yehudit leader suggested that a deal wait until after the results of the November US presidential election.

Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both oppose any deal that ends the fighting before Hamas is destroyed, have threatened to topple the government if necessary to prevent one.

According to Channel 13, a number of ministers attacked Ben Gvir for the comments, in particular Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Science Minister Gila Gamliel, both of the ruling Likud party.

“We must act for immediate release, the abductees have been there for nine months. Women can give birth during this period of time,” Gamliel is quoted as saying, in reference to concerns over the sexual abuse of female hostages in captivity.

Ben Gvir made the reported comments during a Tuesday security cabinet meeting in which Mossad chief David Barnea told officials that young female hostages held by Hamas don’t have time to wait for a new hostage deal framework, according to unsourced leaks from the gathering that were widely reported by Hebrew media outlets yesterday.

“It could take long weeks. The girls in captivity don’t have time to wait for changes in the proposal under discussion,” Barnea was quoted as saying in the closed-door meeting.

It was not clear why Barnea focused specifically on the women.

The deal currently on the table would see the release of hostages held by Hamas in return for some form of ceasefire in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip as well as the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.