The chairman of Religious Zionism, Minister Bezalel Smotrich, addressed the issue of the abductees today (Monday), at the beginning of the faction's deliberations in the Knesset.
Smotrich: "We are all praying and committed to the return of all the kidnapped to their families, the living and the dead. In this matter, there is no difference between right and left, between religious and secular, between coalition supporters and opposition supporters. We all embrace the family members, feel their pain and wish for their return.".
Smotrich criticized: "The attempt to portray a large part of the Israeli people as having a hard heart towards the hostages is cynical, evil and deepens the division and rift within us, serves the Nazis of Hamas and harms families and the chance to bring everyone home.".
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""Tens of thousands of soldiers have risked and are risking their lives even at this moment to bring about the release of the hostages, hundreds have given their lives in this sacred mission, among them many who oppose deals with the devil and agreements that would nullify the achievements of the war. Those heroic fighters are the ones who created the pressure on Hamas, which made possible the first deal in which over a hundred hostages were released, and continue to create the levers of pressure thanks to which we can release all the rest.".
Referring to criticism from opposition members, he said: "I heard Gantz accuse the prime minister of abandoning the kidnapped and Lapid say that our hearts are hard on the kidnapped. It's sad to see how quickly we are returning to the October 6th discourse, which only weakens us and plays into the hands of our enemies.".
He added: "I call on Gantz, Lapid and the opposition to stop! Stop now with the dangerous, divisive and inciting discourse towards a large part of the Israeli people, towards the families of those who fell from the Heroism Forum, the families of those kidnapped from the Hatikva Forum, and hold a substantive discussion on the way to bring everyone home. In your inciting discourse, you are denigrating the memory of the fallen and tearing apart the Israeli people.".
He stated his opposition to certain deals with Hamas: "A partial deal with Hamas would result in the release of dozens of hostages, would leave Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip, and would allow it to prepare for the next massacre with the help of the murderers who will be released from prison. Therefore, we oppose such an evil deal and will do everything in our power to prevent it.".
Smotrich referred to Defense Minister Yisrael Katz's decision to order the completion of military investigations and a freeze on new appointments in the IDF: "The time has come to replace the senior command structure that was captured in Conception and failed on October 7th with a new and offensive command that will race forward and lead the State of Israel to victory and the restoration of national security in all sectors.".
