US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday accused ultra-nationalist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of posing a “danger” to Hamas hostages because of his continued opposition to unconditional ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.
The straw that broke the camel’s back and unleashed an accusation of unprecedented harshness against one of the most extremist representatives of the Israeli government was a comment by Smotrich on the call for a new negotiation for a ceasefire in Gaza to take place on August 15 in Doha (Qatar) and which the Finance Minister described as a “dangerous trap.” a “capitulation” to the “Hamas Nazis”a “reward for terrorism” and a threat to Israel’s future security.
Smotrich and the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, are radically opposed to any type of negotiation and instead support the Total and absolute eradication of Hamas. They also often make incendiary statements, such as those made by Smotrich himself this week, when he declared that starving Palestinians in Gaza to destroy Palestinian militias “might be justified and moral, although no one in the world would allow us to do so.”
The United States — which spoke of “disturbing rhetoric” — Germany, France and the United Kingdom, among other countries, They condemned without palliatives these comments.
Both ministers are essential partners of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the far-right coalition led by the president, and both Smotrich and Ben Gvir have threatened to leave on numerous occasions if Netanyahu opens negotiations that include an end to the Israeli offensive as a condition for the return of the hostages.
In response to his latest statements, Kirby said that Smotrich “should be ashamed” of himself for declaring that US President Joe Biden is “could ever support an agreement that would endanger Israel’s security”“It is a mistaken, outrageous and absurd idea,” he said.
Kirby then accused Smotrich of “endangering” hostages who could be released if the Doha negotiations go through by having the finance minister take “a position that hinders Israel’s national security interests at a critical moment in the war” against Hamas.
“Mr. Smotrich basically comes to say that the war should continue indefinitely“without pause, without showing any real concern for the lives of the hostages. These are not just absurd arguments: they are a deception of Israeli public opinion,” the spokesman added.
