The emerging hostage deal is a “national security catastrophe” and the Religious Zionist Party would oppose such an agreement, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday.
“We will not be part of a surrender deal that will include the release of arch-terrorists, stopping the war, and dissolve its achievements that were bought with much blood, and the abandonment of many hostages,” Smotrich said.
As political figures, Hamas, and those with knowledge of the negotiations have all said that a deal is imminent, politicians from across the spectrum began weighing in the past couple of days.
RZP MKs voted to fully support Smotrich’s position, at a faction meeting after his comments.
Smotrich called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “continue at full strength, conquer and clean the entire [Gaza] Strip, finally take from Hamas the control of the humanitarian aid, and open the gates of hell on Gaza, until the complete surrender of Hamas and the return of all of the hostages.”
After the statement, Smotrich attended a meeting in the Knesset Finance Committee on the 2025 budget. Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni began the meeting by giving the floor to family members of hostages.
Hostage family reactions
Ofir Angrest, brother of Matan, a soldier who is being held hostage in Gaza, criticized Smotrich, saying he was “sacrificing” his brother.
Dolev Yehud, father of hostage Arbel Yehud, requested a moment of silence, in which he held up a sign that said, “Free my daughter.”
In the Knesset Constitution Committee, Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo shouted at Yehuda Cohen, father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, “If you continue with your foul words, you are sending your son for many more years to the Hamas dungeons.”
Revivo’s rebuke came after Cohen accused Netanyahu of war crimes and accused RZP of “fascism” and of “dealing only with death.”
RZP chairman MK Ohad Tal said the party won’t support a deal that leaves many of the hostages in Gaza and that releases terrorists with blood on their hands.
“Israel must continue its military pressure and unleash hell on Gaza until Hamas is defeated and all of the hostages are returned,” he wrote in English on X/Twitter.
National Missions Minister Orit Strock, also from RZP, said she would march on Monday night at the entrance to Jerusalem to protest the deal.
Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid said a deal is possible, and at this stage, Hamas is not interested in torpedoing it.“I offered [Netanyahu] a political safety net for a hostage deal,” he said following a meeting with Qatari diplomats in Paris on Sunday. “This offer is more valid than ever. If Netanyahu can and wants to make a deal, he and I will know how to close the details of the safety net in half an hour.”
Ra’am head Mansour Abbas made similar comments to Army Radio on Sunday.
“If a government is formed that will agree to a hostage deal and an end to the war, Ra’am will be a safety net that will allow [the government] to live out its days.”
Shas chairman Arye Deri said he will support any deal that is submitted for government approval.
“We pray that the efforts will bear fruit and lead to the fulfillment of the commandment of ransoming captives, which is one of the most important commandments in Judaism,” he said at a faction meeting on Monday.
MK Yakov Asher, from the Degel Hatorah faction in the United Torah Judaism Party, said as many hostages should be released as possible and as quickly as possible.
“The people of Israel need to bring the hostages home ASAP,” he said.
Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, sent a letter on Monday to Netanyahu outlining his opposition to the release of terrorists being part of the agreement.
The deal is “a direct, real danger to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis,” he said. “The Israeli government has a duty to defeat our enemy in a resounding victory that will be remembered for generations. Do not allow moves that involve these dangers to be advanced.”
The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization that represents the municipal councils of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.