Minister Hili Tropper from the National Unity Party commented on Wednesday on the about the possibility of a second hostage release deal, and clarified that despite the supreme value of bringing the hostages home, there is a price that cannot be paid for it, and that is the end of the war.
"The return of the hostages is more urgent right now, because toppling Hamas will take time anyway. There is one price we cannot pay, and that is the end of the war," he said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai.
"If it is a truce or a break in the fighting, it certainly needs to be done. We cannot end the war with Hamas on the border fence, it will endanger the country and project weakness."
On the condition of the hostages, Tropper said that "not all of the 136 are alive, that is already known. There are hostages whose condition we do not know, some we know are injured."
He also added, "We need to speak less, act more and above all unite. The experience in Gaza is of shared fate. People who demonstrated in the streets a few months ago against each other, are now ready to be killed for each other. I hope that even when we return to disputes it will be different."
Tropper acknowledged that there is no place to call for elections right now. "Now is certainly not the right time. The right time will come. But after such a difficult event, it would be right for the people to choose their leadership again."