Smotrich says he’ll vote against the ‘delusional’ hostage deal if presented according to current outline

25 February 2024, 4:39 pm

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Minister of Finance and Head of the Religious Zionism Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he is against a hostage deal in which Hamas stands to gain more than Israel does.

“The negotiations are being conducted in a delusional way,” he says at a conference in Jerusalem. “The next deal should be better for us with the ratio of hostages to terrorists and the days of respite for each hostage, certainly not an infinitely worse ratio.”

He adds that he will “vote against any deal like the outline that’s been published.”

The weeklong truce in November saw Hamas release 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners, and although there is no clear answer as to how many prisoners they are demanding for a second hostage deal it is understood that the number is significantly higher.