Lapid: ‘Smotrich Want to Drown us in a Swamp of Blood’
CrossFireArabia- February 12, 2025
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, attacks Bezalel Smotrich: “He does not want to return the prisoners, and his camp wants to drown us in a swamp of blood.”
Maariv: Trump’s Gaza Bombshell No More Than Trial Balloon
- CrossFireArabia
- February 10, 2025
As the hours passed after the White House bombshell in which President Donald Trump announced American control over Gaza and in which he said “it will be ours,” and reiterated that all Gazans would have to be removed and transferred to a “better” place; since then, the stock exchange of names of countries that could receive the Palestinians has been growing and flourishing.
In addition to Jordan and Egypt, which Trump mentioned, the names of countries such as Albania, Puntland, and Somaliland stand out. Why not? If you asked the Gazans themselves, some of them would laugh in Trump’s face, or say: “Come on, if it’s a resettlement, why not in Sweden, England, or Canada?”
In Israel, despite the harsh sound of the word transfer, no one opposes the idea of getting Gaza out of our lives once and for all, especially after 7 October. The Israelis believe the Palestinians will have to pay a heavy price, and they want the Palestinians of the West Bank to disappear as well.
But it seems that the big balloon Trump launched into the air is nothing more than a trial balloon; a big threat balloon in an attempt to end the resistance in Gaza without a fight. There is no real intention of a mass exodus of nearly two million people.
Trump has set a heavy price in the hope that Hamas will voluntarily leave Gaza, and it can be assumed that this is just a preliminary proposal, an introductory step, from the statements of the president’s advisers as well, and if the Arab countries do not like it, these countries are invited to present their solution to disarm Gaza.
For Israel, the intention to prevent Hamas from continuing to control Gaza is desirable, especially after Netanyahu failed in this mission, and Hamas remained in power at the end of 15 months of fighting. It seems that there are those who have to swallow the “absolute victory”.
It is to be wondered: What was actually reached in the meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu and what are its implications? In short, in the end, Trump imposed on Netanyahu not to renew the war, and to continue with the deal to release the kidnapped soldiers. On the sidelines, it is unreasonable for an American president to insist on an Israeli prime minister in order to release Israeli kidnapped soldiers.
Messianic Vision
Trump has categorically ruled out the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza based on the messianic vision of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, hinted at his desire to move quickly on the Saudi issue, and made it clear that he still prefers a diplomatic solution with Iran over the use of force.
On the surface, this may seem disappointing to Netanyahu, but don’t worry; Trump has worked to create a welcoming atmosphere for the prime minister, and provided him with a far-reaching virtual achievement in order to preserve his coalition, which is a placebo for a government afflicted with the delusions of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
By resettling the Gazans, Netanyahu can sell the idea to his partners on the extreme right. These are dreams in the air, and the coalition is what is meant. And with the help of the grand plan of American control over Gaza and the transfer of all the residents of the Strip from there, a plan that has little chance of being realized, to say the least, Netanyahu can buy more time.
A person who cares only about his position, and whose top priority is his political survival, can strengthen the coalition, and in the meantime, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir will quickly accept the spoiled goods; the first will remain in the government, the second will return to its bosom, and the three will cling to this lie and pass it on to the base until the next crisis.
On top of all this political filth, there is the issue of releasing the hostages; Yesterday, we saw the horrific and horrific scenes of the return of Ohad Ben-Ami, Eli Sharaby and Or Levy as walking skeletons, which emphasized the importance of returning everyone as soon as possible. These people, who were abandoned twice, must be returned: once on 7 October, and then in the rigging of the deal to free them.
The outrageous images of Hamas controlling Gaza once again confirm, unfortunately, Netanyahu’s complete failure in managing the war, and now we hope that Trump and White House officials will force him to continue releasing the prisoners, and then the IDF will ensure that the “monsters” of Hamas are finally eliminated, down to the last one.
This column was written by By Yossi Hadar for the Israeli daily, Maariv and translated from Arabic and appeared in Jo24.
Germany Condemns…
- CrossFireArabia
- January 9, 2025
Germany has condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s remarks calling for the destruction of Palestinian cities like Jenin and Nablus in the West Bank, comparing them to the devastation of Jabalia in northern Gaza. Smotrich’s exact words were, “Funduq, Nablus, and Jenin must look like Jabalia,” sparking fears of further killings, forced displacement, and the erasure of Palestinian existence.
Is Smotrich up to His Word?
- CrossFireArabia
- January 6, 2025
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich incites in a statement on X against West Bank towns provocatively asserted that Palestinian towns in the West Bank “should resemble [Gaza’s] Jabalia” alluding to the heavily bombarded region in Gaza.
He added that Israel should not trust the Palestinian Authority when assessing its security needs. This is not the first time he incited against the Palestinian people.
Previously, he reaffirmed his determination to implement a plan to seize control of the West Bank and block the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Smotrich called Monday for massive destruction in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin as the case in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
“Funduq, Nablus, and Jenin must look like Jabalia,” Smotrich said.
His call came after three illegal Israeli settlers were killed in a shooting attack in the village of Funduq in the central West Bank.
The extremist minister called for an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss what he called “a change in Israel’s approach” in the occupied West Bank according to Anadolu.
Ya’aloun: Israel is Ethnic Cleansing Gaza
- CrossFireArabia
- December 1, 2024
The Israeli former defense minister Moshe Ya’aloun told the Israeli radio that Israel is conducting an ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Ya’alon said that “the army is committing war crimes” in the Gaza Strip and “is trying to hide them,” stressing that he bears responsibility for his previous statements regarding his country’s army committing “ethnic cleansing crimes” in the northern Gaza Strip.
This came in an interview conducted by the Israeli Public Radio on Sunday with Ya’alon, the day after he confirmed that the “army” was committing ethnic cleansing in the northern Gaza Strip.
Ya’alon said: “I bear responsibility for what I said about carrying out ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.”
On Saturday, in an unprecedented statement by a former official of Ya’alon’s stature, in an interview with the local Israeli channel /democratv/, excerpts of which were republished by the official broadcasting authority, he said that “Israel” is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in the northern Gaza Strip, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the entity to “ruin.”
Ya’alon added in an interview today: “I speak on behalf of the leaders serving in northern Gaza, there are war crimes being committed there.”
He continued: “Israeli soldiers are putting their lives at risk and will be subject to lawsuits in the International Criminal Court.”
He continued: “I must warn about what is happening there (in northern Gaza) and they are trying to hide it from us, as they are committing war crimes there.”
Regarding Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip, Ya’alon said: “Smotrich is proud of the opportunity to reduce the population of Gaza by half.”
He went on to ask: “What do you call that? He has no moral problem with killing two million Gazans, we were a democratic country.”
Last November, Smotrich called for reoccupying the Gaza Strip and reducing the number of Palestinians there by half by encouraging what he called voluntary migration.
Regarding the policy of the right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Ya’alon said: “We are now being dragged into occupation, annexation, ethnic cleansing – look at the northern Gaza Strip – displacement, and Jewish settlement.”
Ya’alon, who served as Minister of Defense between 2013-2016, accused Benjamin Netanyahu in the same interview of leading “Israel towards ruin.”
The Israeli occupation army, supported by the United States and Europe, continues its aggression on the Gaza Strip for the second year, where its aircraft bomb the vicinity of hospitals, buildings, towers and homes of Palestinian civilians, destroying them over the heads of their inhabitants, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel.
The aggression left about 149,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world according to Jo24.
