Smotrich Threatens to Topple Government if Gaza Not Occupied, Lapid Rebukes Netanyahu

Al Manar

23-04-2025

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened Wednesday to topple the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the army does not occupy the Gaza Strip and rule it militarily.
In a statement, Smotrich said that the Israeli premier 'is ultimately responsible' for handling the Israeli war on Gaza.
'Launch a campaign to defeat Hamas, occupy Gaza, and implement a temporary military government until another solution is found, return the hostages and launch the Trump plan – or this government has no right to exist,' he said.
The extremist minister also defended his position supporting a ban on the entry of aid into Gaza.
According to Israeli media, Smotrich clashed with army chief Eyal Zamir over the latter's refusal to make the military responsible for the distribution of aid in Gaza.
'If you are not capable, we will bring in someone who is capable, if you don't know how to do it, we will find someone who does,' he told Zamir during a meeting of Israel's Security Cabinet on Tuesday night.
'Israel' has killed over 51,300 Palestinians in the enclave since October 2023, most of them women and children.
Smotrich continued his boycott of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar during last night's security cabinet meeting, according to leaked quotes published by Hebrew news outlets, and left the room rather than listen to him speak.
In one instance, Smotrich is said to have stopped Bar from responding after the security chief was asked about counterterrorism statistics in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and urged the cabinet secretary to speed the meeting along, pointing out that Bar would have an opportunity to speak later in the proceedings.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government 'is incapable of winning the war' in the wake of Tuesday evening's confrontation between Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the recently appointed IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir over the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
'So now the government ministers are also attacking the new 'offensive chief of staff' they chose, creating conflicts in the cabinet and running to tell [everyone],' he says. 'It's time to recognize the facts: this government is incapable of winning the war.'
Netanyahu's government 'had a year and a half, received full support from the Americans, full support from the opposition, and the excuses are over. Not Biden, not Herzi, not Gallant — it's them,' Lapid says, referring to former US president Joe Biden, ex-IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi, and defense minister Yoav Gallant, all of whom drew significant criticism from members of Netanyahu's cabinet.
'A government that encourages evasion [of military service by the ultra-Orthodox] has lost the trust of our heroic fighters, a government that is unable to define its strategy for the day after in Gaza will not bring victory. We will have to defeat Hamas under the next government. Now, bring back the hostages instead of blaming others all day for your failures,' Lapid says.