Smotrich: Bringing back hostages from Gaza ‘not the most important thing’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid lashed out at Smotrich, calling his remarks a 'moral disgrace'

By Jotam Confino in Israel 21 February 2024, 8:24 am

Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who was kidnapped to Gaza, speaks at a rally for the return of the hostages in Jerusalem, Nov. 4, 2023.(Yahel Gazit/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Finance Minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, Betzalel Smotrich, caused an uproar in Israel on Tuesday after stating that returning hostages from Gaza isn’t the most “important thing.”

In an interview with Kan public broadcaster Smotrich was asked whether bringing back the remaining 134 hostages from Gaza is the most important goal of the war.

“No. It’s not the most important thing. Why make it a competition? Why is it so important at the moment? We need to destroy Hamas. That is very important,” Smotrich replied.

The finance minister also said that brining back the hostages at any price “is a problem. We have to return the hostages and we have to put pressure on Hamas.”

Families of hostages, who have been demonstrating for months to get their loved ones back from Gaza, reacted fiercely to Smotrich’s comments.

“Mr. Smotrich, let them take your children and I will stand in the road and shout, ‘It’s not the most important thing’,” said a parent to 18-year-old Liri Albag who is held hostage in Gaza.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also lashed out at Smotrich, calling his remarks a “moral disgrace.”

“Smotrich’s attack on the families of the hostages is a moral disgrace. Heartless people cannot continue to lead the State of Israel into the abyss,” Lapid said.

“Smotrich, on your watch and that of Netanyahu, 1,200 Israelis were murdered, on your watch, Israeli citizens were kidnapped, tortured and raped. You are responsible for their fate. Without the return of the hostages, Israel will not win,” he added.

War cabinet member, Benny Gantz, also issued a statement, saying: “The return of the hostages is not only our goal in the war, it is our moral imperative as a country and as a people. It is the most urgent thing. We will not miss any opportunity to bring them home.”

Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s government have long argued against making a deal with Hamas to get the hostages back if it entails the release of terrorists from Israeli jails or any other big concessions.