In the room of the religious Zionist faction in the Knesset, last Monday, the families of the abductees met with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The conversation turned to the operational activity in Gaza and also to the difficult dilemmas surrounding their release.
In a recording published for the first time on the "Israel Hayom" website, Smotrich is heard saying to the families, "I don't know how to promise that I will return all the abductees home alive."
"I don't know how to commit."
Bezalel Smotrich, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"I don't know how to commit to you, I'm putting it on the table. I don't know how to commit, I don't look at anyone and tell them I'll bring your son alive," he said.
"I know how to say that I will do everything to bring him, I will do everything to the best of my judgment and conscience also in a way that will best serve the chance of returning him, but mainly from the point of view of the good of Israel and the people of Israel, our security and existence for many years to come."
"We will also reach Philadelphia"
Smotrich referred to the conduct of the war and said "I tell you that right now, to the best of my judgment, the war is being conducted correctly, with constraints, with disabilities, we do not live in laboratory conditions and do whatever we want, but there is unequivocal clarity from end to end to go to the end, not to surrender, not to blink, ready pay prices".
"The war is being waged correctly". Destruction in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, photo: AP.
Regarding the progress of the fighting towards Rafah, Smotrich said, "There are now one million three hundred thousand people of the civilian population, we are doing it in stages, finishing it in Khan Yunis. We will deal with Rafah with the same thoroughness, methodical, aggressiveness as we dealt with the north (the Strip) as we deal with Khan Yunes, we will leave no stone unturned, not even Philadelphia, we will make sure that there is no threat from Gaza to Israel. At this rate, the best chance to return the kidnapped is for Sinwar to realize that he has no air."
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us