Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock (Religious Zionist Party) may leave the government following the decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend to enable “localized humanitarian ceasefires,” according to recordings of Strock from a meeting on Sunday, first published by Israel Hayom.
A spokesperson for Strock confirmed that the recording was authentic.
“What’s happening in Gaza right now is extremely difficult. There’s no formal surrender document, but it looks like a surrender. A surrender by us – by Israel, yes? It’s simply terrible and appalling,” Strock said in the recording.
“I could understand those who say that in exchange for hostages, you bring in humanitarian aid – or that in exchange for hostages, you grant them a ceasefire,” she added.
“Now it’s not in exchange for anything. I just can’t understand it from my point of view. If the prime minister doesn’t give me an explanation – not an explanation, actions – that he’s heading for victory, I have no reason to be there [in the government],” the minister said.
“But I hope he’ll be able to convince me with actions that he’s heading toward victory and not surrender. If this is surrender, we have no reason to be there. We’ve always said that’s the red line. It’s tough, really tough. This is a very difficult morning,” the recording concluded.
Smotrich remains quiet during Netanyahu's decision
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of Strock’s party, told his MKs that "It's not right to make political considerations in war. We will be tested by the results - Hamas's decision.
"We are promoting a good strategic move, but it's not worth expanding on it right now," he continued. "We will know in a short time whether it pays off and where we are headed."
A spokesperson for Smotrich said he was not involved in the decision to launch the humanitarian ceasefires and did not know about the decision in advance.
A member of Smotrich’s party said that he and Netanyahu had communicated during the day, but at press time on Sunday, Smotrich had yet to make a public statement.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.