Gaza ceasefire: Finance minister threatens to collapse Netanyahu’s government

Last Updated on January 21, 2025 6:03 am

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to dissolve the government if the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire is implemented.

The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire essentially includes a plan to end the ongoing war.

Finance Minister Smotrich said, “If the government does not continue the war and does not move towards occupying and governing the entire Gaza Strip, then I will dissolve the government.”

At the same time, he criticized Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Harzi Halevi, for being tactically weak.

Al-Mayadeen reported this on Monday, citing Israeli broadcaster KAN.

In a controversial interview on Israel’s state-run radio station KAN, Smotrich strongly criticized the proposed prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.

He said the biggest strategic loss of the ceasefire was the message that ‘Israel can be subdued by kidnapping Israelis’.

In Smotrich’s words, ‘the only way to repair this loss and present this agreement as a temporary defeat rather than a strategic defeat in the war is to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.’

Earlier, Smotrich opposed the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement at a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet last Friday. He said the current agreement was similar to an agreement proposed last July.

Therefore, he warned the Israeli government, saying, ‘With this agreement, Hamas leaders can return to northern Gaza. Even Hamas leader Muhammad Deif cannot be stopped from returning.’

Earlier on Saturday, Smotrich called the Gaza ceasefire agreement a ‘disastrous agreement.’

He strongly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the newly approved prisoner release deal, saying that the deal threatened national security and jeopardized the “progress” achieved in the war.

Although his efforts to oppose the ceasefire were unsuccessful, he reiterated his call for the complete destruction of Hamas in Gaza.

Smotrich also revealed that before the agreement was approved, he had been adamant in favor of a gradual occupation of Gaza and gaining full control. He complained that the deal could continue to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, which he believed could reach Hamas.

“Look at Gaza—it is a ruin, uninhabitable, and will remain so. Do not be fooled by the forced celebrations of our enemies. Very soon we will wipe out their smiles and turn them into cries of despair and emptiness,” he said.

Smotrich also conceded defeat, declaring that he would not be part of any government unless the war goals were met or the prisoner release was complete.

The internal divisions in the Israeli government were further highlighted by the resignation of Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet over his opposition to the Gaza ceasefire. The resignations of two other ministers from his party, the Otzma Yehudit Party, have challenged the stability of Netanyahu’s coalition.