[51007] Political storm following Minister Smotrich's comparison between a government with Abbas and the October 7th massacre

Political storm surrounding Minister Smotrich's statement

A fierce political storm broke out today (May 5, 2026) following the remarks of Minister and member of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet, Bezalel Smotrich, who claimed in an interview that "a government with Abbas is worse than the October 7th massacre," as reported on 🔅 Political Arena ‼️.

The remarks sparked sharp backlash. Naftali Bennett attacked the minister severely on ynet news and stated that Smotrich has joined the list of Israel haters and massacre deniers. Simultaneously, Member of Knesset Mansour Abbas responded to the remarks on ynet news and described the statement as a "miserable and immoral statement".

Following the criticism, Minister Smotrich attempted to explain his words and clarified that the question posed to him concerned the ranking of the severity of political maneuvers. According to him, as published on 🔅 Political Arena ‼️, he was asked "what is the more severe political act," and sought to distinguish between "going into a government with Hamas knowingly and maliciously" and sitting in a government under whose watch the massacre occurred. Smotrich added in his response that he is not moved by the attempts of political actors to capitalize on the backs of the fallen and the murdered.

Meanwhile, it was reported on 🔅 Political Arena ‼️ that Member of Knesset Tropper clarified that he has no intention of resigning from his faction, and that he will continue to act in coordination with it on parliamentary matters, this against the backdrop of the general political unrest in the system.