Smotrich says he supports Saudi normalization, but not if it means ending war
Far-right minister advances visions for next stage of Gaza conflict, as Netanyahu prepares to meet with Trump in Washington
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 expressed support for expanding the Abraham Accords on Monday, including with Saudi Arabia, while warning that such an agreement must not “come at the expense” of eliminating Hamas.
A deal to establish relations with the Saudis must be “based on truth and not on lies… and not come at the expense of the security of the residents of the State of Israel, including the achievement of the war goals of destroying Hamas’s military and governmental power, removing the threat, and returning all the hostages,” Smotrich said.
The far-right minister was addressing reporters in the Knesset a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House — a sit-down that was expected to encompass a variety of regional initiatives, including expanding the so-called Abraham Accords to encompass Riyadh.
Israel established relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, during Trump’s first term in office under the accords.
Normalization efforts with Saudi Arabia, which did not join the 2020 accords and has never recognized Israel, has been all but shelved due to the war in Gaza, as well as Riyadh’s demands that Israel establish a diplomatic horizon for a future Palestinian state.
Smotrich has in the past spoken against normalization with Saudi Arabia if it requires the establishment of a Palestinian state. He has also called on Netanyahu to strengthen Israeli “sovereignty” over the West Bank, something he believes will be possible under the new American administration.
Smotrich made no explicit mention of his previous threats to leave the coalition, and deprive it of its Knesset majority, if it does not resume fighting Hamas at the end of the current 42-day first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal with the terror group.
However, Smotrich did insist that it was “very clear that the campaign cannot be ended a moment before the complete destruction of Hamas, and if, God forbid, we do not do so, it is a matter of time before it prepares and embarks on the next massacre.”

Pulling out of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza/Egypt border was a “red line” for him, he added. Smotrich has previously warned that he will leave the coalition if fighting does not resume following the first phase of the ceasefire.
Netanyahu arrived Sunday in Washington, where he is to meet with Trump on Tuesday. Before boarding his plan, the prime minister said his meetings in the US capital would “deal with important, critical issues facing Israel and the region,” and predicted that cooperation with the new American administration could redraw the Middle East.
These issues include “victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components, an axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East, and the entire world,” he said.
Smotrich told reporters that he was “certain that President Trump would continue to work to strengthen the security and status of the State of Israel as he has done to date” — and welcomed the US decision to end the Biden White House’s effective boycott of himself and former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, another leader of the far-right. Visiting Israel, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Smotrich on Thursday.
For his part, Ben Gvir on Monday urged Netanyahu to return to Israel with an American commitment to restart the war, and urged him to take steps to advance Trump’s proposal to move Gazans out of the strip.

Trump has raised the idea of moving some of Gaza’s population to Jordan and Egypt, temporarily or permanently — a proposal rejected by both Arab states.
“As long as there is no government that wants to overthrow Hamas rule, I do not see myself and Otzma Yehudit returning to the government,” Ben Gvir told reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, only weeks after bolting the coalition in protest of the current ceasefire.
Hawkish opposition politician Avigdor Liberman likewise welcomed Trump’s proposal on Monday, adding his own recommendation that Egypt take over administration of Gaza.
Like Smotrich, Liberman endorsed normalization with Riyadh, stating that he is in favor, “but not at the price they are demanding” — progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state and assistance with a civilian nuclear program.
In comments that appeared aimed at Netanyahu, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz insisted that the Gaza Strip not be rebuilt before it is demilitarized, adding that such an approach requires significant cooperation with Washington.
“The transition to phase two of the hostage deal must include the replacement of the Hamas regime and the demilitarization of Gaza,” the former war cabinet minister insisted during a press conference.

“The reconstruction efforts in Gaza must be conditioned on the replacement of the Hamas regime. Either Gaza will be demilitarized, or it will remain demolished. That must be the condition for reconstruction, in coordination with the United States and the world,” he said.
“Once it is replaced and is cut off from its financial sources, we must hunt every Hamas terrorist in every last tunnel and hideout,” Gantz continued, also calling “to dismantle the Iranian nuclear project.”
“We must not miss the opportunity. Coordination with the Americans is crucial… We must continue to bring our hostages home, dismantle Hamas, weaken Iran and advance normalization with Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries – and all of this can happen in the next few months. That is what real victory means.”

The Democrats’ chairman Yair Golan, meanwhile, issued a scathing critique of Netanyahu’s Gaza policy, stating that “his refusal to introduce a governing alternative to Hamas in Gaza stemmed from his preference for Smotrich and Ben Gvir in the coalition over the safety of the hostages and soldiers, thereby allowing Hamas to continue to control the Strip and restore its status.”
“I want to be clear: The IDF severely damaged Hamas, but Netanyahu, who did not care about an alternative government, saved it. Hamas needs to be eliminated, not saved,” Golan said.