Sa’ar praises Netanyahu, Trump for Gaza deal, says Israel passed ‘moral, ethical test’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hails the Gaza ceasefire deal, praising Israel for passing “a moral and ethical test” through its commitment to freeing the hostages and saying he looks forward to voting in favor of the agreement later today.

Along with its military achievements throughout the past two years of war, “Israel also passed the moral and ethical test of its commitment to the release of its hostages,” writes Sa’ar in a Hebrew-language post on X.

“I do not think there is any other nation that would have similarly stood such a test. This commitment has been expressed in the persistent striving to free the hostages and also in the way the war itself has been conducted,” Sa’ar claims.

“Today, in the government meeting, I will have the privilege of voting for the third time (after November 2023 and January 2025) in favor of a framework for the release of hostages,” he says. He adds he will “do so with pride,” while not “minimizing the costs involved in the release of abhorrent terrorists” included among the Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for the hostages.

The foreign minister praises the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then US President Donald Trump for their work to reach the deal, but warns that “Israel’s challenges are not over.”

“Israel did not give up on any of the war’s objectives, as set by the security cabinet. They are all, in practice, included in the Trump plan,” he insists, adding, “We have not given up on ending Hamas’s rule in Gaza, nor on removing the threat it poses to Israel and its citizens.”