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Monday, December 22, 2025
Smotrich: PM must insist to Trump that Israel be able to destroy Hamas; PA must also be eradicated
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
When he meets with US President Donald Trump in Florida later this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must insist that Israel be allowed to finish the job in Gaza and destroy the Hamas terrorist organization, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tells reporters ahead of his hard-right Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“At this meeting, the prime minister must ensure that, as we promised, we do not stop just short of realizing the primary objective of the war that we defined — the destruction of Hamas. We promised absolute victory, and we are not there yet,” Smotrich tells reporters, laying out a series of non-negotiable requirements that he says Netanyahu should push for during his visit to Mar-a-Lago.
According to NBC News, during his visit, Netanyahu will present Trump with plans for a possible fresh attack on Iran.
Smotrich argues that there can be no reconstruction without full demilitarization in Gaza, and that “Hamas cannot exist in Gaza at the end of this war.” He further rules out any postwar role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and says that no multinational force should be allowed into the areas of Gaza currently held by Israeli forces.
Israel will “under no circumstances” pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, he says, and “there must be a clear and short deadline for attempts to dismantle Hamas the easy way, after which the State of Israel will have a free hand to do so in its own way.”
Turning to the West Bank, Smotrich insists that Netanyahu “must finally also put Judea and Samaria on the table,” asserting that “the PA is a terrorist entity that must be eradicated” and in order to ensure that the West Bank does not become the next Gaza, Israel must apply sovereignty there.
“If, God forbid, we do not act now on each of these fronts, we will, God forbid, be responsible for the next October 7. I bear responsibility, by virtue of being a member of the government, for October 7, and I have no intention of taking responsibility for the next October 7,” Smotrich says, referring to Hamas’s 2023 onslaught that started the Gaza war.
The far-right minister’s comments come on the heels of remarks he made during an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday night, when he appeared to say that Israel will destroy Hamas before the next election.
The Times of Israel Community.