Smotrich dismisses hostage protest impact, urges Netanyahu to escalate Gaza campaign

The Religious Zionist Party leader pressed for a decisive military operation in Gaza.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday that nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of hostages in Gaza had failed to paralyze Israel, accusing protest organizers of exaggerating their influence and politicizing the issue.

In a video statement released at the end of the protest day, Smotrich argued that efforts to “shut down the country” had fallen flat.

“Citizens of Israel, we are at the end of a day that began with bombastic declarations by left-wing organizations who wanted to organize a day of protests and stop the country. What happened in practice? Nothing. The State of Israel didn’t stop for a minute,” he declared.

He downplayed participation numbers, saying that “a few thousand out of ten million Israeli citizens blocked roads across the country.”

According to Smotrich, while Israelis broadly empathize with the families of the hostages, “they are in no way willing to be a tool of the left-wing demonstration that seeks to overthrow the right-wing government and cynically uses them.”

Shifting his remarks toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Religious Zionist Party leader pressed for a decisive military operation in Gaza.

He suggested that Netanyahu had been “spooked” by criticism of the war effort and urged the prime minister not to overestimate opposition sentiment.

“The people of Israel are with you; the people are with us, behind us, in our demand for victory until the end,” Smotrich said.

He called for the IDF to expand operations without hesitation. “Announce that there will be no more pauses in the middle, that there will be no more partial deals,” he urged.

“Order the IDF to charge into Gaza and the central camps and defeat Hamas’ remaining military strongholds, to destroy it completely, and to release the hostages. Everyone, everyone, without stopping in the middle.”

Smotrich concluded with an appeal for swift victory:

“Mr. Prime Minister, let us, together and with God’s help, bring total victory for the people of Israel before the winter. You also saw today that the people of Israel are with us in this unequivocal demand. Total victory in one blow.”