Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded on Saturday night, the eve of the fast of Tisha B'Av, to the harrowing video released by Hamas showing hostage Evyatar David in visibly poor condition and suffering from severe malnutrition. Smotrich described the footage as chilling evidence of the abuse endured by the hostages.
"Who wouldn’t have their heart broken upon seeing the images of Evyatar David, whom the Nazis of Hamas are abusing with inhuman cruelty," Smotrich wrote.
He stressed that the video’s release was not an act of transparency but a calculated attempt to manipulate. "Hamas’s goal in publishing hostage videos is not to show a sign of life, but to engage in emotional manipulation - to torment families, break our spirits, and pressure us to halt the war before Hamas is destroyed."
Smotrich made clear that Israel will not bow to such tactics. "This, of course, will not happen. The response to the cruel abuse of the hostages must be the total destruction of this pure evil from the face of the earth - and the immediate, unconditional return of all the hostages. With full force, and without pause."
He concluded his statement with the biblical injunction: "You shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."