On Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, took to X/Twitter to condemn the latest ceasefire proposal now under consideration in talks in Doha, Qatar. He has threatened to oppose ratification of the agreement if it is brought to a vote.
Smotrich lambasted the deal, which would be implemented over three phases, as a “catastrophe” for Israel’s security.
“The emerging deal is a catastrophe for the national security of the State of Israel,” Smotrich wrote. “We will not be part of a surrender deal that would include releasing arch-terrorists, ending the war, and erasing the achievements that cost us so much.”
Smotrich also claimed the proposed agreement would “abandon many hostages,” a reference to the plans to release just 34 of the remaining 98 Israeli hostages during the first phase of a potential ceasefire, leaving the fate of the remaining hostages uncertain and linked to Hamas’s compliance with the truce.
Breaking this afternoon: Under the terms of the emerging ceasefire, it is expected that the first 33 hostages to be released will be humanitarian cases, an Israeli security source told The Press Service of Israel on Monday as reports swirled throughout the day of an impending ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas.
Meanwhile, five Israeli hospitals were instructed to begin preparations to receive and treat the initial returnees.
How can Israel go along with a hostage deal that does not include every hostage? How can it agree to any deal that does not require the release of all the hostages before any sort of “ceasefire” goes into effect? Let us keep in mind that on October 6, 2023 there was a ceasefire in effect. What more do we need to understand what ceasefire means to these jihadists. We pray Israel will not give up the advantage it now enjoys. This is the same old deal we’ve seen before where thousands of terrorists go free but at what cost to Israel’s security?
January 20. is just 7 days away. President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened “there will be hell to pay” if the hostages are not released before he takes office. Nobody knows exactly what he means or intends to do to confront this. We do know it would be preferred if all the hostages were released, all terrorists remained behind bars and Israel’s defeat of Hamas was completed. The same old scenario cannot continue endlessly.