Minister Ben Gvir claims he blocked previous hostage release deals, calls on Smotrich to help him block the deal again

In a post to social media, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attacked the developing hostage release ceasefire deal, calling it “a surrender deal to Hamas” and specifically asking his political ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to cooperate to prevent the deal from moving forward. 

In the video, Ben Gvir claimed to have prevented previous attempts to approve the hostage release ceasefire deal. 

“Over the past year, through our political power, we have managed to prevent this deal from coming to fruition, time after time,” Ben Gvir stated. “However, since then, additional elements have been added to the government, who now support the deal and no longer constitute a balancing act.” 

“The deal that is being formed is terrible. I know the details of it well,” Ben Gvir said, explaining his reasons for opposing the deal. “It includes the release of hundreds of murderous terrorists from prisons, the return of Gazans, including thousands of terrorists, to the northern Gaza Strip, withdraws the IDF from the Netzarim Corridor, and returns the threat to the residents of the [Gaza] Envelope - thus effectively erasing the war achievements that have been achieved with much blood by our fighters, so far, in the Gaza Strip.” 

Ben Gvir also slammed the deal because it “does not lead to the release of all the hostages and seals the fate of the remaining hostages who are not included in the deal to death.” 

The far-right minister said that his party no longer has enough influence to “constitute a lever of pressure” and called on Smotrich to join him in threatening to withdraw from the coalition if the deal is approved. 

“The strength of Jewish Power is not sufficient in the current composition of the government to constitute a lever of pressure to prevent the deal, and our withdrawal alone will not prevent its implementation,” Ben Gvir stated. “Therefore, I call on my friend, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to join me in full cooperation against the terrible deal being crafted, and to inform the Prime Minister clearly and firmly that if the deal goes through, we will resign from the government together.” 

The controversial minister admits that the move may not succeed, but calls it “our only chance to prevent its implementation, and in fact to prevent the surrender of the State of Israel to Hamas.” 

While Smotrich and his Religious Zionist Party have expressed opposition to the deal, they have not threatened to withdraw the government. At the end of a party meeting on Monday, the Religious Zionist Party announced that "all the members of the faction have unanimously decided to stand behind Smotrich's insistence on the security and national interests of the State of Israel.” 

According to the statement, the Party called for: “The continuation of the war until victory and the destruction of Hamas, [and expressed] strong opposition to the release of terrorists and the destruction of the achievements of the war that were bought with great blood, and insistence on the return of all the hostages while opposing a partial deal that will abandon all those who are left behind.” 

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to Ben Gvir’s video, saying it proved what he has been saying for a year. 

“For a year and two months I have been saying that they don't make a deal for political reasons, and everyone tells me that it's not true, it's shocking, or how can I say such a thing. Today, Ben-Gvir released a video and told the camera, without blinking, the terrible truth.” 

After Ben Gvir released the video statement, an Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations countered Ben Gvir's narrative.

"Contrary to Minister Ben-Gvir's statements, the only one who has managed to prevent a deal to release the hostages since November 2023 is the terrorist organization Hamas, which has persisted in its refusal - as senior US administration officials have repeatedly claimed," the official said.

"What has now changed Hamas's position are Israel's tremendous achievements in the war: crushing Hezbollah and eliminating Nasrallah, the direct attacks on Iran, the elimination of Yahya Sinwar and the rest of the Hamas leadership, the increased military pressure on Hamas in Gaza, and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria."

"This is in addition to the great political pressure exerted on Hamas by US President-elect Donald Trump. Hamas did not agree to release more than 12 hostages, was not willing to reach a deal as long as Israel remained in Gaza, and did not agree to Israel remaining on the Philadelphia axis after it took control of it," he claimed. "The one who changed its position is Hamas - not Israel."