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Exclusive: Minister's controversial words to families of Hamas captives

At one point, when the conversation was about the operational activity in Gaza and the dilemmas surrounding the release of their loved ones, he said, according to a recording obtained by Israel Hayom: "I cannot commit to bringing all the captives home alive."

 

Israel Hayom

Jan 24, 2024

 

 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich

 

The Habayit Hayehudi caucus meeting on Monday had Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich make a controversial statement in the presence of the families of the captives held in the Gaza Strip.

At one point, when the conversation was about the operational activity in Gaza and the dilemmas surrounding the release of their loved ones, he said, according to a recording obtained by Israel Hayom: "I cannot commit to bringing all the captives home alive."

"I cannot promise that to you, I am saying it as it is – I cannot commit, I'm not looking at anyone and telling him 'I'll bring your son back alive'," he said. "I can say that I will do everything to bring him back, I will do my utmost to the best of my judgment and conscience in a way that will best serve the prospect of returning him but I will be chiefly looking out for the good of Israel and the Jewish people, our security and existence many years ahead," he continued.

Smotrich referred to how the war was being prosecuted and said, "I'm telling you that to the best of my judgment, the war is currently being conducted properly, with constraints, with limitations, we do not have laboratory conditions that allow us to do what we want, but there is wall-to-wall agreement that we go all the way and on refusing to surrender and not giving in, and on the sacrifice."

Regarding the progress in the troops making their way towards Rafah, Smotrich said, "There are now 1.3 million civilians [there] we're doing it in stages, and first we deal with Khan Younis. We will deal with Rafah with the same thoroughness and aggressiveness as we dealt with the north (of the Gaza Strip) and as we are dealing with Khan Younis, we will not leave a stone unturned, not even in the Philadelphi Route, we will make sure there is no threat from Gaza to Israel. The best chance to bring back the captives is through having Yahya Sinwar understand that he had run out of oxygen."