From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 22, 2024
Smotrich slams IDF brass on hostage deal, urges PM to stand up to US on settler sanctions
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"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praises US President Joe Biden as a Zionist who “loves Israel,” even as he calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand up to the White House over the issues of sanctions against West Bank settlers and the potential establishment of a Palestinian state.
Arguing that Israel “must not stop the war before achieving all the goals we have defined,” Smotrich tells reporters in the Knesset that “the State of Israel is facing a tremendous international pressure campaign in order to force it to commit suicide and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“All means are kosher to achieve this goal: imposing sanctions on settlers and organizations, including threats to impose sanctions on me personally, unilateral recognition [of Palestinian statehood], and disconnected and unfounded decisions in The Hague,” he says — referring to a recent non-binding advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice stating that Israel’s 56-year long presence in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is “illegal.”
“I stand here and pledge to you, I will never give up. The people of Israel will not surrender. We will do everything so that a Palestinian state will never be established in the Land of Israel that would endanger our existence. We are working day and night in the field to thwart this, and God willing, we will also bring about the application of Israeli sovereignty,” he continues, repeating aspirations to annex the West Bank or parts of it.
“I call on the prime minister, do not be silent in the face of the sanctions on the citizens of Israel and the settlers in Judea and Samaria,” he says, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
Turning to the issue of the indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas, Smotrich warns that Israel cannot “re-enter a cycle of fruitless talks that will harm the achievements of the war.”
Criticizing the senior leadership of the IDF, which has reportedly endorsed an Israeli-proposed deal that is opposed by far-right elements in the government, Smotrich says that the army’s senior command “does not know its place and instead of focusing on the continuation and intensification of the fighting against Hamas, voices political and policy positions in favor of a reckless deal while deviating from its authority and role.”
