Former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot and Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz sharply criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday over his opposition to the Gaza deal that is set to end the Israel-Hamas War.
Following both Israel’s and Hamas’s agreement to the terms on Thursday, the Gaza deal, designated to ensure the return of the remaining 48 hostages and end the warfare between Israel and Hamas, was approved in a government meeting called by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night.
On Friday, Eisenkot, the head of the newly established party, Yashar!, wrote on X/Twitter that he welcomed the signing of the agreement.
He then slammed the “shameful leadership” of ministers who voted against “a deal that would bring back live hostages who were kidnapped on [these ministers’] watch.”
“The citizens of Israel deserve ministers who prioritize the good of the people and the state and who strengthen Jewish values and commit to the Israeli ethos,” Eisenkot wrote.
“May we be worthy of the IDF soldiers, the fallen, and the wounded who brought us to this moment,” he continued. “And may our sons and daughters return to their borders.”
Opponents of the agreement
Smotrich was among the opponents of the agreement proposed by US President Donald Trump. Responding to Eisenkot, Smotrich wrote on X that “on a day like this, you should have been cloaked in solemn silence, expressing regret, feeling ashamed, asking for forgiveness, and thanking us for not listening to you.”
The finance minister accused Eisenkot of “lecturing the State of Israel by telling people that they needed to surrender to the worst of the country’s enemies.”
“You lectured us, saying that we needed to retreat to the October 6 lines and allow Hamas to remain in the Gaza Strip, rearm, and grow stronger with international guarantees – all while being just a stone’s throw away from our communities,” Smotrich added.
“On a day like this, you should be thanking me for refusing partial deals that would have abandoned some of the hostages,” he said, addressing Eisenkot directly. “We are now getting all the hostages back, thanks to my insistence.”
“Imagine what would have happened if we had listened to those who suggested we accept partial deals. We would now be in the midst of some 60 days of a ceasefire, of exhausting negotiations,” Smotrich wrote.
“And you know what, Gadi? Yes, I voted against [the deal],” he continued.
“I voted against it because I think that emptying the prisons by releasing horrific terrorist murderers, by releasing the entire leadership of the next generation of terror that will now scatter across the world and preserve the cells that will orchestrate terror here, who will try with all their might to spill rivers of blood here [is a mistake].”
Gantz also blasted Smotrich on Friday. “Your opinion on the deal and your vote yesterday is your prerogative, and in a democratic country, that is your right, even if it contradicts mine and the opinion of the majority of the public in Israel.”
“I will only remind you that the horrific massacre occurred on your watch, you being a part of the government that was in place when it happened, where you serve as a senior and decisive minister,” he added.
Meanwhile, after the government approved the Trump-proposed agreement, Netanyahu posted his appreciation on X on Friday, thanking Trump, US envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts in securing the contract.
“In the last two years, we have fought to achieve our war objectives, with one of the central ones being the return of the hostages – all of them, the living and the dead. And we are about to do it,” Netanyahu wrote.
“These efforts, along with the courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza, have created combined military and diplomatic pressure that has isolated Hamas,” he went on to say.