Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday criticized the government's conduct vis-à-vis the negotiations for the release of the hostages being held by Hamas.
"The fact that after 41 days [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar is still able to conduct negotiations and determine the conditions for the release of the hostages means that we are not headed in the right direction," claimed Smotrich.
He stated that "the time has come for the war cabinet to show strength and make it clear through actions to this Nazi and his Qatari patron that, from here on out, only we set the terms, and above all we are fully committed to completely destroying him and his organization."
"We should have been in a situation where we refuse to negotiate and only talk with fire and brimstone a long time ago, while he is chasing us and begging for a deal. This is the only way to return all the hostages and restore security to the State of Israel. We don't stop until we win," said Smotrich.