Smotrich: Hostage deal has price tag nation cannot afford; Oct. 7 had ‘nothing to do with me’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterates his opposition to a ceasefire and hostage deal announced by US President Joe Biden, in an interview with Kan radio.

Smotrich says he opposes a deal in which hostages are exchanged for terrorists with “blood on their hands” and one that doesn’t ensure the military can eliminate Hamas in Gaza.

“There are prices that a nation that loves life cannot afford,” he says.

Smotrich also says that the October 7 massacre “has nothing to do with me, it was an insane intelligence-operational failure,” appearing to lay the blame on security forces. Earlier in the war he accepted responsibility for the state’s failures during the onslaught.

“Those who are responsible should have gone home a long time ago. This was the IDF’s conception. Who is briefing against me in the newspapers? The heads of the IDF, the same people who failed on October 7 are not ashamed to criticize me today,” he says.