Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionists) issued a video statement on Sunday in which he addressed the day of protests for the hostages in Gaza and said that it did not succeed in shutting down the country as the organizers had planned.
"Citizens of Israel, we are at the end of a day that began with bombastic declarations by left-wing organizations who wanted to organize a day of protests and stop the country. What happened in practice? Nothing. The State of Israel didn't stop for a minute," he stated.
Smotrich claimed that only a minority participated in the protests: "A few thousand out of ten million Israeli citizens blocked roads across the country."
According to the minister, "The people of Israel express great solidarity with the hostages and their families, and are in no way willing to be a tool of the leftist protest which seeks to topple the right-wing government and cynically uses them."
In his remarks, he turned to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him to lead an extensive military campaign: "It could be that lately you were a bit too spooked by the campaign against the war. You took the media and the feeling that the nation isn't with you too seriously. You too saw together with the entire people of Israel. The people of Israel are with you, the people are with us, behind us in our demand for victory until the end."
He called on Netanyahu: "Make the right decision, finally. Announce that there will be no more stopping the middle, that there will be no more partial deals. Order the IDF to charge into Gaza and the central camps and topple Hamas's remaining military strongholds, to destroy it completely, and to bring back the hostages. Everyone, everyone, without stopping in the middle."
Smotrich called for a speedy victory: "Mr. Prime Minister, let us, together and with G-d's help, bring total victory for the people of Israel before the winter. You also saw today that the people of Israel are with us in this unequivocal demand. Total victory in one blow."