Smotrich: US failure to veto UNSC ceasefire resolution ‘plays into Hamas’s hands’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich joins a chorus of Israeli officials to slam the US for refraining from using its veto power to block a UN Security Council demand for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The US decision not to impose a veto in the Security Council plays into Hamas’s hands and harms efforts to return the hostages and stabilize the region by eliminating the radical forces and strengthening the moderate forces,” Smotrich says in a statement.

“The State of Israel will not stop until Hamas is completely destroyed and the hostages are returned,” he adds.

He says that Israel’s relationship with the US has “always been one of partners, not a patron state.”

“This is not the first time that an Israeli government has needed to make decisions contrary to the US government’s position,” he adds, voicing support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and calling for national unity during the ongoing war with Hamas.