Smotrich fires back at Kirby, vows to maintain opposition to Gaza ‘surrender deal’
Far-right leader says he respects US but tells White House ‘to respect Israeli democracy,’ likens prospect of deal with Hamas to US reaching ‘agreement with al-Qaeda and Bin Laden’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Saturday hit back against White House national security spokesperson John Kirby for singling him out for criticism a day earlier when Kirby said the US would not allow “extremists” to push the proposed Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal off course.
“I respect the US stance and thank it for its support of Israel in the face of regional threats, but I expect it to respect Israeli democracy and the stance of the Israeli citizens and its elected officials in relation to decisions that will affect the country’s security,” Smotrich wrote in a post on X.
“Just as the US would have rejected international pressure to reach a surrender agreement with al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, so Israel will not surrender to any external pressure that will cause harm to Israel’s security.”
He went on to denounce the agreement as a “surrender deal to” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “that leaves most of the hostages to die, releases many murderers, returns terrorists to the northern Strip, abandons the border, and allows Hamas to smuggle weapons and rehabilitate its forces so it can go back to attacking Israel as an extension of Iran, is bad for Israel and endangers its security.”
“No criticism and no attack will divert me from the goal,” he added.
Smotrich, who heads the coalition’s far-right Religious Zionism party, has been consistently vocal about his opposition to a deal throughout negotiations and on Friday denounced the proposal as a “dangerous trap,” saying it creates a “delusional symmetry” between Israeli hostages and “despicable Jew-murdering terrorists” who would be freed.
Addressing these comments by Smotrich, Kirby said later Friday that the finance minister was spreading false claims and “ought to be ashamed” for questioning US President Joe Biden’s intentions.
“The idea that [Biden] would support a deal that leaves Israel’s security at risk is just factually wrong, it’s outrageous, it’s absurd,” he said.
The United States and its allies have been trying to arrange a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for months but have consistently run into obstacles from both Israel and Hamas.
US officials believed the latest proposal is the closest the parties have been to an agreement to free women, sick and elderly hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 in exchange for at least six weeks of ceasefire, the first phase in an envisioned three-stage deal for ending the war.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 with Hamas’s unprecedented surprise attack on Israel in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
It is believed that 111 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
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