Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich broke down in tears today (Monday) during a meeting of the Religious Zionist faction in the Knesset, in which he addressed the anniversary of the war - and the fallen of Religious Zionism. Smotrich began: "We are marking the anniversary of the terrible massacre that occurred on Simchat Torah, in which the State of Israel paid a painful and unbearable price in blood for the concept and addiction to temporary and artificial peace, while our enemies armed themselves and prepared to harm us. A concept because of which the Oslo Accords were signed, thousands of terrorists were brought here and given guns; then the expulsion of Gush Katif and the creation of a Hamas terror state; the escape from Lebanon under fire - all of these sent a message to our enemies that we had lost the ability and the will to fight, to pay the price and to stand up for ourselves." He added: "Despite this, after Simchat Torah and the terrible failure, the people of Israel stood up, shook off their sins, and sobered up, revealing in themselves superior powers and spiritual strength and fought back with a vengeance in all sectors. We conquered Gaza, dealt a very severe blow to Hamas, eliminated Sinwar, returned a large part of our captives home, went to war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, eliminated Nasrallah and dramatically damaged their capabilities, and began to actively act against the head of the snake, Iran, and we still have more work to do in this sector. "We would not have been able to make the transformation that we managed to make in the past year if we had broken down along the way, if we had raised a white flag or listened to all the proposals from home and abroad that called for us to end the war with agreements that were not worth the paper they were written on." He emphasized that the expression of his party's firm stance changed the face of the war. "If we had not stood here and said in the clearest terms that ending the war on the terms of Sinwar's surrender would lead to the overthrow of the government, then God forbid Israel would have surrendered, Sinwar would still be alive and would be sitting in his armchair making a giant V, and Nasrallah would have continued to prepare with thousands of his fighters and the vast amount of weapons captured in Lebanon in huge quantities to carry out the next massacre, and Iran would have continued to finance and strengthen its proxies and march towards a nuclear bomb. "Therefore, our conclusion is that we must now complete the mission and we must not stop halfway. Any proposal that talks about stopping the war before the complete destruction of Hamas as a terrorist organization and as a leader on the ground and withdrawing from Lebanon before the removal of the Hezbollah threat in southern Lebanon, we will oppose with all our might and will not allow it to pass." He said, "The way to bring all the hostages home is by breaking and crushing Hamas and giving those holding the hostages the opportunity to release them in exchange for immunity and exile, as the Prime Minister publicly proposed. The negotiations in Qatar with the Nazi representatives of Hamas harm that same proposal by the Prime Minister, because it sends a message to everyone that Hamas is still here and will continue to be here and is the owner of the house for a long time." Regarding the budget, Smotrich said that he is not ready for any ultimatum. "I announced that I will bring the 2025 war budget to the government for approval this coming Thursday. Approval of the budget is essential for winning the war and strengthening the economy. There is no doubt that the large expenses of the war pose a challenge to the Israeli economy, but at the same time, we must understand that the Israeli economy is strong and we see this from the data. The shekel is strong, the stock market is rising, the unemployment rate is low, high-tech is growing and recruiting, and more. "Anyone who claims that the economy is on the verge of collapse and is creating panic actually wants to scare the Israeli people and bring about a stop to the war. As Minister of Finance, I will not allow this to happen now. The role of the economy is to support the war efforts and victory will return very high returns to the economy." He attacked Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf: "I strongly reject irresponsible statements from elements in the coalition who threaten to oppose the state budget until the conscription law is approved. These statements harm the State of Israel and the IDF's ability to win the war, and harm the Israeli economy, which supports the war efforts on the front and in the rear until victory. I will not agree to any political postponement or any ultimatum on this matter, and whoever nevertheless opposes the budget will pay a price and bear full responsibility, and there will be consequences for this. I call on my ministerial colleagues from all parties to take responsibility and support the budget proposal at the government meeting." According to him, "The budget will enable the IDF and the security forces to complete the mission and maintain the security of all of us; It will give the reserve soldiers the reward and recognition they deserve. In addition to the NIS 9 billion program we introduced this year, the budget will include an additional program of grants and benefits for the reserve soldiers who fight for all of us; the budget will assist in the reconstruction efforts of the Reconstruction Area and the northern settlements and will help us prepare for major growth after the victory in the war. "As in a household, when there are large expenses, the solution is not to enter into a larger overdraft or take out loans without coverage, but to tighten the belt and cut back a little to ensure economic security over time. Therefore, in the upcoming budget, we will bring convergence measures of 21% of GDP, NIS 40 billion, that will preserve the Israeli economy and ensure that after the war, the Israeli economy will soar and reach new heights and new peaks and bring the citizens of Israel to prosperity. Just as the Israeli public shows responsibility in the war effort, so I am convinced that on the economic front, the public will also go under the stretcher as part of the war effort. We will go under the stretcher together and win together." The Minister of Finance also spoke about the conscription law and attacked the Haredi leadership: "There cannot be a situation in which the State of Israel is at war and is crying out for soldiers and manpower, and the leadership of the Haredi sector stands by. There is no need to exaggerate the heroism of the Torah scholars and religious Zionists who are fighting on the front lines and, unfortunately, are paying heavy prices and falling, and proving that there is no contradiction between studying Torah and military service. "The conscription law is currently in professional discussions to bring about a change in the situation in which thousands of Haredim will enlist. I call on the leadership of the Haredi public: Listen to the cry that is rising from the Torah followers of religious Zionism and from the bereaved families who love and appreciate the Haredi public but are kneeling under the burden, and call on you to show responsibility and act in a real way to assist in the war effort and recruit many thousands of members of the Haredi sector to the IDF and the security forces. The IDF needs you, we need you, the people of Israel need you.".
Towards the end of his speech, he referred to the many fallen from religious Zionism in recent days - and wept: "I want to say a personal word. In recent days, we have seen, read and heard about heartbreaking stories of the fallen, including many reserve soldiers, including adults, fathers of many children, religious and secular, members of kibbutzim and settlers, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that religious Zionism is paying a price disproportionate to its size in the population - extremely heavy prices in this war. Scholars of Torah who went to battle fell defending the state and left behind dozens of orphans. "In contrast to this, there is a phenomenon that boils the blood, of extremist fringes, which even now continues to defame and slander this public of which I am proud to be a part and which they call "death eaters, messianics, delusional." The vast majority of the people of Israel rejects these blatant words, and condemns them. The vast majority cherishes and appreciates the contribution of the religious community, along with other communities, to the war effort. "Today, more than ever, I am proud to be part of this community, proud to promote the world of Torah, educational institutions, settlement, volunteer and charitable endeavors, this breeding ground from which those courageous warriors who fight and sacrifice themselves for the sake of all of us emerge.".
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