From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 8, 2024
Smotrich says hostage-truce deal would be ‘defeat for Israel’; holds up victorious Sinwar poster
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Agreeing to a deal with Hamas would constitute “a defeat and humiliation for Israel and a victory for [Hama leader Yahya] Sinwar,” Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich warns ahead of the Israeli negotiating team’s departure for further hostage deal talks in Cairo and Doha later this week.
Addressing reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, the hard-right finance minister claims that a deal like the one being negotiated “will sentence to death 90 hostages who are not part of the deal and it will lead to thousands of murdered people who will die in the next massacre by Sinwar and Hamas.”
“This is the picture we will see in Gaza if we, God forbid, sign this irresponsible deal,” he said holding up a poster of Sinwar flashing victory signs.
“Mr. Prime Minister, this is not absolute victory. This is complete failure,” he says, directly addressing Benjamin Netanyahu — who yesterday presented a list of what he said were nonnegotiable Israeli demands.
“We will not be part of a deal to surrender to Hamas,” he continues, hinting at his oft-repeated threat to bolt the coalition if a deal is signed.
