After an extended Thursday session, Israel’s cabinet approved the hostage-ceasefire arrangement proposed by President Donald Trump.
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu first brought the matter before the security cabinet for deliberation, followed by a full ministerial assembly. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner joined the Israeli discussions after separately meeting with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Most members of the Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit rejected the proposal — with the lone exception of RZP’s Ofir Sofer.
Senior right-wing figures in the government — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party), National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), and Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) — opposed the agreement.
Their objections center primarily on the planned swap of Palestinian detainees in return for the hostages who would come back to Israel.
National Missions Minister Orit Strock, another Religious Zionist Party member, declared she would vote against the arrangement “no matter what,” her spokesman told The Jerusalem Post.
Although Ben-Gvir said he would oppose the deal at the vote, his office indicated on Thursday that his party is not yet intending to abandon the coalition.
Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir had previously issued “red lines” to Netanyahu, warning they could pull their parties from the government if the proposal moved forward.
Leaked portions of the meeting published in The Jerusalem Post showed sharp disagreements between Ben-Gvir, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner over how the war should be brought to an end.
Ben-Gvir voiced fierce condemnation of freeing convicted attackers, branding them “baby killers” and “women’s rapists.” He argued such people would never be freed in the United States, acknowledged the efforts of his counterparts, but insisted they would not accept such concessions.
He also attacked efforts he viewed as attempting to reconcile with Hamas, saying the group aims to slaughter Israelis and that reconciliation is impossible.
Witkoff, answering Ben-Gvir’s point, recounted how he forgave the drug dealer responsible for his son’s death after meeting the offender’s parents in court.
Ben-Gvir shot back, “Mr. Witkoff, that’s the difference: those who murdered us on October 7th aren’t asking for forgiveness. Their families are proud of it. They want to kill Jews.”
Kushner emphasized his view that Hamas is largely isolated on the world stage and deterred from further action.
Ben-Gvir fired a rhetorical challenge at that claim, asking, “Would you have made peace with Hitler? Hamas is Hitler. They want to murder us.”
During the talks, Kushner told Israeli ministers, “We’ve made a deal here that isolates Hamas and encourages actors in the Arab world to pursue peace. This agreement ensures Israel’s security,” adding that “If we need to act with force, we will. It will either happen the easy way or the hard way.”
Ahead of the vote, Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar (Likud) spoke to The Jerusalem Post to voice his strong support for the pact.
“There’s a clear majority in the government to approve and support the deal,” he said.
Zohar argued the agreement should be embraced because, in his view, Israel has achieved the core aims it set following the October 7 attacks.
“We need to remember that Israel’s war objectives are the return of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas’s ability to control the Gaza Strip and attack Israel. These goals are being met as part of the deal,” Zohar said.
On the anticipated prisoner releases tied to the deal, Zohar urged realism: “We need to understand there’s what we’d like, and there’s what’s possible.”
He added, “We need to move forward with the deal, even if it comes with unpleasant prices that must be paid,” arguing that the country’s objectives have been satisfied.
Smotrich warned on Thursday that freeing Palestinian inmates — whom he called “the next generation of terror leadership” — would carry dire consequences.
He declared that the released detainees would seek to “do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
We cry at the lost Zionist government’s handling of Jewish affairs, brought to in part by the comfortable golus Yuden who enable the Zionist betrayers of all that is good to continue their “deals” and dependence on America……everyone knows Hamas will put down their weapons! Everyone knows that the Saudis are not “guarantors”, that Egypt are not “guarantors” and that the Fatah terrorist regime already tried ruling Aza and were thrown off rooftops in 2006…..so this is another Trump Bibi backstab……enabled by those sitting out the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Israel, and in favor of letting the Arabs have our only land……this is a day of darkness for years to come. Those who think they will sit out the wars in Israel in the comfort of exile…..well every exile came to a crashing end…..and the Free Free Frankestinians are planning to end your comfortable exile…..and they are the future of America…..time to wake up and take back EY from the Zionists who have brought destruction and endless war instead of Torah and Jewish pride.
I would love to see Jared tell his talking points to the parents of the baby who was burned alive in their own kitchen oven. Sorry, I’m with Smotrich on that! How do you let out the next wave of Sinwars? If their crime is murder of Jews or terror, they do not get to see the light of day. Their culture has proven who they are. Those very fiends of humanity who perpetrated October 7th must not be part of this deal.
BOTTOM LINE – LESSON LEARNED: TERROR PAYS OFF!
Sad day!