National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir admitted in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday that his party had prevented a hostage deal from being achieved on numerous occasions.
העסקה המתגבשת היא נוראית. אני מכיר היטב את פרטיה: היא כוללת שחרור מאות מחבלים רוצחים מבתי הכלא, חזרת עזתים בהם אלפי מחבלים לצפון הרצועה, מסיגה את צה"ל מציר נצרים, ומחזירה את האיום על תושבי העוטף - ובכך למעשה מוחקת את הישגי המלחמה שהושגו בדם רב של לוחמינו, עד כה, ברצועת עזה. לא… pic.twitter.com/8bwuxB8uuc
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) January 14, 2025
"In the past year, through our political power, we succeeded in preventing this deal from moving forward, time and time again," he noted.
According to Ben-Gvir, "additional elements" have since joined the government "and now support the deal, and we no longer hold the balance of power."
Ben-Gvir's remarks were made as part of his call to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to leave the government if a hostage deal would be approved.
The “additional element” in question is the United Right party, which increased the size of the coalition from 64 to 68 Members of the Knesset. This means that Ben-Gvir and his six MKs are no longer the difference-makers. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich together, however, pose a credible threat to the government, and the combined threat could hamper Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motivation to see the deal through.
An Israeli official said in response to Ben Gvir's comments, "Contrary to Minister Ben-Gvir's claims, the only party that has managed to prevent a hostage release deal since November 2023 is the Hamas terror organization, which has remained obstinate—just as senior American officials have repeatedly stated.
What has now changed Hamas's position are Israel's significant achievements in the war: the crushing of Hezbollah and the elimination of Nasrallah, direct strikes in Iran, the elimination of Yahya Sinwar and the rest of Hamas's leadership, the intensified military pressure on Hamas in Gaza, and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. This is in addition to the significant diplomatic pressure applied by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Hamas," the official noted.
"Hamas refused to release more than 12 hostages, was unwilling to make a deal as long as Israel remained in Gaza, and rejected Israel’s presence in the Philadelphi Corridor after it took control of it," the official further added.
Calling on Smotrich to join him, Ben-Gvir affirmed in an earlier statement that "The emerging deal is a surrender to Hamas!"
"I call on my colleague, minister Bezalel Smotrich, to join me and collaborate in opposing the surrender deal with Hamas," he stated.
"Otzma Yehudit alone does not have the ability to block the deal. I suggest we go together to the Prime Minister and inform him that if he approves the deal, we will resign from the government," the minister added.
"Even if we end up in the opposition, we will not bring down the prime minister," Ben-Gvir emphasized.
"However, this collaboration is our only way to prevent the surrender deal, to stop this terrible agreement, and to ensure that the deaths of hundreds of soldiers were not in vain."
Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported later on Tuesday that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the hostage deal talks.
According to the report, citing Smotrich's staff, the minister was holding talks with regard to the consequences of the deal.
The staff members also claimed that Smotrich's decision regarding the support or lack thereof of the deal would be void of political considerations.
The finance minister met on Monday and Tuesday with a series of security officials, confidantes, family members of hostages and of fallen soldiers, and party members, in order to decide on how he intends to oppose the deal, after calling it a “national security catastrophe” on Monday. As of Tuesday afternoon, the finance minister had yet to announce his decision.
Opposition head Yair Lapid responded to Ben-Gvir's remarks in a post on X.
"For a year, I’ve been saying, 'You don’t make a hostage deal for political reasons,'" Lapid noted, adding that everyone subsequently asked, "how I can say such a thing. Today, Ben-Gvir released a video and said, straight to the camera, without blinking the terrible truth."
במשך שנה אני אומר, ״לא עושים עסקתחטופים מסיבות פוליטיות״ וכולם עונים לי שזה לא יכול להיות, ומזעזע, ואיך אני יכול להגיד כזה דבר. היום בן גביר הוציא סרטון ואמר, למצלמה, בלי למצמץ, את האמת הנוראה: ״בשנה האחרונה, באמצעות כוחנו הפוליטי, הצלחנו למנוע מהעסקה הזו לצאת לפועל, פעם אחר…
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) January 14, 2025
Hostage deal may be finalized today
On Tuesday, sources familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post that a hostage deal could be announced on Tuesday if there are no last-minute surprises.
Meetings are set to be held during the day in Qatar to finalize the deal.
On Tuesday afternoon, Religious Zionist Party coordinator MK Ohad Tal said in a speech at an event called the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast at President-elect Donal Trump’s estate at Mar-a-Lago that Trump “should not support a deal that will lead this total evil of Hamas in power. Not to support a deal that will leave behind a vast majority of hostages.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.