The secret Smotrich kept from his wife: Israel was going to war with Iran - interview
He voted against the January 2025 hostage deal, his own voters demanded he resign, and Ben-Gvir walked out. Smotrich stayed silent for five months. In an interview with the Post, he explained why.
In January 2025, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voted against a proposed hostage deal, rejecting the released prisoners as murderers. Despite calls for his resignation, he remained in office, absorbing criticism and keeping the secret of the impending war with Iran. Smotrich revealed that he knew Israel was preparing to confront "nuclear Iran," an expansion of missile production that had tripled.
He explained that resigning would lead to elections, which would prevent the campaign to remove the existential threat. Instead, he stayed quiet, even from his wife, regarding the secret plan.
Operation Rising Lion commenced five months later, on June 13, with the goal of removing Iran's nuclear threat. Smotrich claimed that he had shaped the government more than anyone who had, despite not resigning. He criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not initially understanding the gravity of the situation. Smotrich believed he managed to put a significant brake on Netanyahu's actions.
Smotrich admitted that the international force, the International Supervision Force (ISF), was supposed to disarm Hamas in Gaza, but no country would send troops to fight Hamas. Consequently, the ISF was supposed to supervise Israel's actions instead. He feared a "Lebanonization" of Gaza, where a governing body would exist on the surface, while an armed faction held the true power and control.
Smotrich's argument for staying in office was that influence was worth more than exiting the government. He believed staying would yield greater results in private, despite the public scrutiny. He emphasized that a man who had never resigned from the government had shaped it more than anyone else. Ten weeks before the October 27 election, Smotrich's argument was a key issue on the ballot, with Religious Zionism polling at or just above the 3.25% threshold.
Smotrich's personal life, including his sons serving in combat units and a cousin killed during the war, added weight to his argument. He expressed anger towards the haredi leadership, stating that they did not show their support during the crisis. However, he did not accept that this made him their instrument. Smotrich's defense was based on a bill that required haredi leadership to actively vote for enlistment and imposed sanctions on daycare, housing, and transportation subsidies for failure. However, the bill never passed.
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