Why did Israel restart the war? One answer: Bezalel Smotrich.
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In Israel, the voices opposing the resumption of the war against Hamas are loud, and they are many. Last weekend, more than 100,000 took to the streets in cities across the country, according to protest organizers. In Tel Aviv, protesters chanted, if an agreement isn't reached, it is murder for the hostages. Israel believes there are still 24 hostages alive in Gaza, along with the bodies of many more. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he resumed the war and ended an earlier ceasefire in an effort to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages. Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin says this is risking the hostages' lives. Back in 2011, he negotiated with Hamas to win the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
With the lack of political leadership of Hamas in Gaza, only military leaders of Hamas are left in Gaza today. And they are not necessarily taking orders from the Hamas leadership outside. We're putting the hostages in direct danger. They have threatened to execute them. They could be killed by Israeli bombing.
Polls show Israeli public opinion is not on Netanyahu's side. But in this moment, Netanyahu's fate does not depend on public opinion. depends on holding together his coalition.
He's worried about political survival.
Alan Pincus is a former Israeli diplomat who served under Netanyahu's predecessors. He has no political life expectancy outside the prime minister's office. Netanyahu is also still on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. And if convicted, he could face prison. And he's also trying to fire the head of Israel's internal security service. which was conducting a separate investigation into his administration. And he's also trying to push through an overhaul of the judicial system that would give him more power. That effort has prompted mass protests. Netanyahu needs the far-right parties in his coalition to keep his government afloat. In particular, he needs his ultra-nationalist finance minister, Batsalal Smoltrich.
First of all, we stayed in the government to make sure we fight back.
who had threatened to collapse Netanyahu's government if he did not resume the war on Hamas. Consider this. Where Israel's war in Gaza goes next might depend in large part on B'Tsalal Shmultrich. So what does he want? From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's Consider This from NPR. But Salah Smoltrich's views were once fringe in Israel. He's an ultra-nationalist, a West Bank settler, and he has repeatedly called for Israel to resettle the Gaza Strip. His rise to power in Israeli politics has been a long one. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi takes the story from here.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was once a wanted man by Israel's version of the FBI. In 2005, Israel was rocked by mass protests. Israeli settlers were demonstrating against the removal of Jewish settlements from Gaza. At the time, Dvir Kariv was an agent with Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet.
After we got an indication, I gave a notice to the police to enter the house and stop the arrest.
Kariv says late on July 11, 2005, they raided a home in central Israel.
In the basement, we found a lot of jerrycans, which had, if I remember correctly, a lot of oil and milk.
He says, in the basement, we found several jerrycans filled with a lot of oil and fuel.
They arrested five people there. Bezalel was one of them.
They arrested five people there. One of them was a student called Bezalel Smotrich. Kariv says the men were interrogated for three and a half weeks. From the Shin Bet's perspective, we successfully thwarted what Bezalel Smotrich and his group had planned, Kariv says. While he says he can't divulge what that was, Israeli media has reported that Smotrich and his group were planning to blow up a major Israeli highway. Smoltrich remained completely silent during his interrogations and was released without charge. He did not give away his secrets, but later as a politician, he spoke a lot about what drives his political motivations.
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