Smotrich credits himself with bringing about new hostage deal, which he voted against, in lengthy diatribe against Eisenkot

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich publishes a four-minute-long video berating former National Unity lawmaker and ex-IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, after the latter criticized Smotrich’s party for voting against the ceasefire and hostage release deal overnight.

Eisenkot, in a post on X, did not mention Smotrich or his Religious Zionism party by name, but said that the ministers who voted against the deal were displaying “shameful leadership” by voting to abandon the hostages who were “abducted on their watch.”

The citizens of Israel “deserve ministers who prioritize the good of the people and the state, who strengthen Jewish values and commit to the Israeli ethos,” Eisenkot had stated.

שלום גדי אייזנקוט. מועדים לשמחה. תקפת אותי הבוקר במילים קשות כי התנגדתי אתמול לעסקת שחרור המרצחים. קראת לי תת-הנהגה. אני מניח שניסית להתכתב עם המונח תתי-אדם של חברך לאופוזיציית השנאה והפילוג, יאיר גולן.

נתחיל מזה, שאתה ביום כזה היית אמור להתכסות בדום שתיקה, להצטער, להתבייש,… pic.twitter.com/7HfRoK92Am

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) October 10, 2025

Smotrich, in a lengthy response filmed inside his sukkah, says that Eisenkot should be “ashamed” and “ask for forgiveness” for doubting that the government would be able to fulfill its goals of destroying Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip while also being able to recover all the hostages.

“For months, you have been preaching to the State of Israel to surrender to the worst of its enemies. You have been preaching to us to withdraw to the lines of October 6, to allow Hamas to remain in the Gaza Strip,” decries Smotrich. “If, God forbid, we had listened to you, there would have been no chance in the world that we would have reached this great achievement.”

More than that, Smotrich says, Eisenkot should actually thank him for refusing to vote against previous deals, as it is his refusal that led to Israel being able to sign onto Trump’s plan — which he also refused.

He justifies his refusal, however, by saying that he voted against the deal because he believes that Israel is making a “terrible mistake” by agreeing to “empty the prisons of terrible terrorist murderers,” and that somebody needs to represent the families of the terror victims whose murderers will now be released from prison.

He accuses Eisenkot of deciding to “run away from responsibility” when he resigned from the war cabinet in June 2024, and choosing instead to “engage in petty politics, while our hostages are languishing in tunnels, while our fighters are sacrificing their lives in Gaza.”

Eisenkot’s son, Gal, was killed fighting in Gaza in December 2023, and his nephew, Maor Cohen Eisenkot, just days later.

Smotrich, who has been vocally opposed to establishing a state commission of inquiry into the political and military failures surrounding the October 7 assault, tells Eisenkot that real unity is found in “taking responsibility.”