Finance Minister and Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich claimed Sunday that his role in the war had a decisive impact on the return of the hostages, saying in an interview with Nadav Perry’s “All In” podcast: “All the hostages are here because of me.”

Smotrich said that without his pressure, the war in Gaza would have stopped before the Rafah operation. He claimed that after the previous hostage deal in January 2025, another deal began taking shape that would have released only eight hostages. Smotrich said he drew a red line and told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that such a deal would not happen. “If I had not drawn a red line at that moment and told Netanyahu, ‘There is no such thing,’ we would still be negotiating with Hamas over one more and one more,” he said.

Former hostage Or Levy sharply attacked Smotrich over the comments, writing on Instagram: “If when you say ‘because of you,’ you mean hostages were murdered while you torpedoed deals — then yes.” Levy added, “If it were up to you, we would not have come back. For you, we are collateral damage.” He accused Smotrich of repeatedly saying that bringing home the hostages was not the most important goal, calling the minister’s remarks “gaslighting propaganda.” He concluded: “Bezalel Smotrich, you are a disgrace of a minister, a disgrace of a citizen, and a disgrace of a human being.”

Kan News noted that during the first hostage deal discussions in November 2023, Smotrich considered opposing the agreement but ultimately voted in favor after then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi spoke with him. At the time, Smotrich said he supported the deal only because he received guarantees that fighting would resume after the pause.

In February 2024, Smotrich addressed hostage negotiations on Kan Reshet Bet’s “Binyamini and Guetta” program and said returning the hostages was “not the most important thing.” When asked directly whether bringing the hostages back was not the most important priority, he answered: “No, it is not the most important thing. Why make it a competition? What does that matter now? Hamas must be destroyed. That is very important, but you also understand that statements like ‘at any price’ are a problem. The hostages must be brought back, pressure must be applied on Hamas.”

Smotrich later opposed additional hostage deal proposals, arguing that they endangered the achievement of Israel’s war goals. In October 2025, the government approved the deal to return the hostages and end the war. Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strock, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amichai Eliyahu voted against it.

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