Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich addressed the political situation and confronted journalist Ben Caspit about Israel's policies before the Hamas massacre of October 7th, 2023.
"I don't want the coalition to fall apart, because it will be a major disaster if the Left were to wage this war as they would have surrendered a long time ago," Smotrich said on Radio 103FM.
Caspit responded cynically: "The Left might still bring another catastrophe similar to October 7th." In response, Smotrich attacked the Left's policies over the years, saying, "The Left is to blame for all of Israel's disasters. The Left brought Oslo and the Disengagement from Gush Katif and Gaza, and the retreat from Lebanon, and the defeatist ideology that hides behind walls and thinks we have someone with whom to make peace."
Smotrich added that while the October 7 intelligence and security failure occurred under the current government, he claimed that "the seeds were sown in Oslo's 'Gaza and Jericho First' in the 1990s, they were sown in the Disengagement from Gush Katif, during which we shouted and begged and cried, 'This is exactly what will happen,' they were sown in the Shalit deal that got Sinwar out of prison."
When asked to name the person responsible for Sinwar's release, Smotrich responded: "Prime Minister Netanyahu facing a crazy campaign of massive brainwashing and silencing, just the way I'm being silenced today, they silenced me back then, too."
Smotrich also referred to a report in Kan 11, according to which he has a source of information in the army who is providing him with information about the war. "The Chief of Staff, and unfortunately a few other commanders in the army, are certainly not telling the whole truth, and unfortunately they often tell the Cabinet these non-truths," Smotrich claimed, adding, "This is something that has been talked about for years. Yesterday I gave an example about who is operating the Rafah Crossing now in the current deal."
He added, "We were explicitly promised by the Cabinet and during other smaller discussions that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would have no foothold in Gaza and now it turns out that the Palestinian Authority is paying the salaries of those who are currently working at the crossing. Prime Minister Netanyahu was also surprised by this. The political echelon dictated to the army that it would not be the Palestinian Authority, so they told us, 'True, they are not in uniform, but the PA is only paying them their salaries.' Not telling the whole truth is, for example, not exposing us to different opinions within the IDF, to other plans that exist, to dilemmas that exist within the army."
When asked if he had "moles" in the army, he replied: "I think that the use of the term 'moles' is a disgrace on the part of those who briefed us on this. There are dozens of people in the army, acquaintances, friends, fighters, commanders, and I am in contact with all of them. These are not moles and everything is legitimate and everything is from the field. Nothing is secret, nothing is confidential. I go deeper, I study, I read materials, I consult. I take my role in the Cabinet very seriously, with reverence, with reverence."
He added: "No one in the political echelon, including the former defense minister, knew that Hamas had a plan to occupy the southern communities. I sat with Gallant, I didn't know this. Gallant told me that as defense minister, he didn't know that."
Smotrich explained that the decision to extend the ceasefire was intended to exhaust any chance of returning the hostages alive. "The understanding is that returning to war, which is critical because we must destroy Hamas, will challenge us in terms of the hostages, and that is why we want to make the most of every opportunity to return the hostages. Here, with American pressure, Witkoff is being allowed to try to make the most of any opportunity to extend the first stage. We are currently trying everything and exhausting every opportunity to bring back as many of the hostages as possible. There will come a moment when we will have to make the decision that this process has been exhausted, or that we will succeed or not. That is when we will go back to fighting. The IDF is currently preparing for such a scenario."
Regarding the direct negotiations between the US and Hamas, Smotrich claimed, "This incident with Boehler, the US’ Envoy for Hostages is a very severe and serious mistake."