Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) said on Tuesday that forming a government with the Arab party Ra’am would be worse than the October 7 Hamas massacre in 2023, in which over 1200 people were murdered, and 251 were taken hostage.
Smotrich made the remarks when asked if the massacre was worse than forming a government with Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas in an interview with Radio 103FM.
He responded that “obviously” forming a government with Abbas was more severe.
“The October 7 massacre is a terrible failure, but it is a tactical failure,” Smotrich explained.
“Someone who knowingly sold the State of Israel to its enemies and to the Islamic Movement did something a thousand times worse than the worst failure, because it is not just a mistake, it is deliberate.”
The remarks referred to the government formed in 2021 by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, which included the Arab Ra’am party in the coalition for the first time in the country’s history.
Bennett is now a leading rival candidate in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
Smortrich doubled down on the statement when the interviewer clarified that the attack resulted in over a thousand people murdered, along with bereaved families and wounded.
He responded, “Do you want to compare disasters? You asked me as a politician what is more severe: A politician who lied, betrayed his values, and carried out a targeted blow to democracy, that is far worse.”
Smotrich later issued a clarification statement, arguing that the media was taking his words out of context, though the recorded segment was published in its entirety.
“The question I was asked, and to which I responded, was: what is the more severe political act, knowingly and deliberately joining a government with Hamas out of a lust for honor and power, or serving in a government during whose term a terrible massacre occurred, in which Hamas attacked the State of Israel and murdered thousands of our people,” Smotrich wrote in an X/Twitter post.
“So yes, knowingly entering a government with Hamas, through lies, deception, and stealing votes, is the most severe act Israeli politics has ever known,” he added.
Opposition party heads sharply criticized the remarks.
Yashar! Party leader Gadi Eisenkot responded that Smotrich was using the attacks "in which civilians were massacred in their homes, and others were kidnapped alive or abused, on his watch and under his responsibility", as just "another tool in his shameless campaign and that of his government."
Eisenkot added that if Smotrich had listened to the warnings of professionals and experienced officials, “even a failing government like yours could have prevented the disaster.”
“The most severe failure in our history, and the evasion of responsibility, will remain a stain that will never be erased from the top leadership of the State of Israel, the 'October 7 Cabinet,” he added.
Democrats leader Yair Golan said that "from Smotrich’s perspective, the people of Israel should be slaughtered rather than have a government without him."
"And that’s the whole story: the survival of the government matters more to him than the lives of citizens."
“Soon we will replace them, and they will be held accountable for October 7,” Golan added.
Abbas responded to Smotrich's remarks that he has “no respect for the 2,100 people who were murdered and for their families, this is a miserable and immoral statement.”
“Even on its worst day, the 'change government' is a thousand times better than Smotrich’s October 7 disaster government," he added.
“Human life has no value in Smotrich’s eyes, just as it doesn’t in the eyes of extremist fanatics anywhere in the world. Soon we will change this," Abbas stated.