Smotrich tells US to ‘respect Israel’s democracy’ and stop pushing it to agree to a hostage deal

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the United States needs to “respect Israeli democracy” on matters pertaining to Israel’s security, after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the US would not allow “extremists” to push ceasefire-hostage deal talks off course.

“I respect the US’s position, and thank it for its support for Israel in the face of regional threats, but I expect it to respect Israeli democracy and the position of Israel’s citizens and elected officials in relation to decisions that will affect the country’s security,” Smotrich says.

He likens the calls for Israel to agree to a hostage release and ceasefire deal to a theoretical situation in which the US was pushed to “reach a capitulation deal with Al-Qaeda and [Osama] Bin Laden” after the September 11 attacks.

“The Sinwar surrender agreement, which leaves most of the abductees to die, which frees many murderers, returns the terrorists to the north of the Gaza Strip, abandons the border and allows Hamas to smuggle weapons and restore its strength to return and attack Israel as an arm of Iran, is bad for Israel,” the ultranationalist minister says, without providing evidence for his claim.

The deal would endanger Israel’s security, he says, “and we will oppose it with all our might.”

Kirby said on Friday evening that Smotrich “ought to be ashamed” of himself for all but accusing the US of promoting a deal that would endanger Israel’s security.

“The idea that [President Joe Biden] would support a deal that leaves Israel’s security at risk is just factually wrong,” Kirby had said. “It’s outrageous, it’s absurd.”