[50988] Smotrich's remarks storm: Establishing the change government is worse than the October 7 massacre

Political storm: Finance Minister compared the establishment of the change government to the October 7 massacre

During an interview with 103FM, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that the establishment of the previous government, which included the Ra'am party led by Mansour Abbas, was "worse than the October 7 massacre." According to Smotrich, while the massacre was a "serious, unintentional security failure," establishing the government with Abbas was a deliberate act of "selling the state to the Muslim Brotherhood."

Following the public outcry, Smotrich clarified that he did not intend to compare Bennett to Hamas, but rather to distinguish between "knowingly establishing a government with supporters of terrorism" and the security failure. The remarks received support from figures identified with the coalition and bereaved families, such as Yehoshua Shani, father of Captain Uri Shani, who backed the minister and claimed that the criticism against him was "detached from reality."

On the other hand, opposition members and critics harshly attacked the statement. Mansour Abbas called Smotrich's words a "miserable and immoral statement," adding that they demonstrate a disregard for human life and the victims of the massacre. Eyal Eshel, father of the late observer Roni Eshel, also attacked the minister in sharp words and called on him to be ashamed, mentioning Smotrich's own role in the government and in the failure of the day of the massacre.

Journalist Ben Caspit, known for his critical stance toward the government, claimed that the statement "is not an editing error" but rather reflects Smotrich's worldview. Other Telegram channels such as War Room also referred to the comments as a "crazy statement" by someone who was a minister in the government of the failure.