Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday on Channel 14’s "The Patriots" that Israel will not retreat from Lebanon, despite international pressure and reported U.S.-Iran developments. He backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the American administration and said, "There will be no withdrawal, not on Friday and not after Friday."
Smotrich described the northern front as a major success, saying the IDF has cleared terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon in a way never done since Israel was founded. He said Israel is maintaining full freedom of action, has created a broad and sterile security zone, and is now controlling the Nabatieh area. According to him, forces are set to keep pressure on Hezbollah, and Israel will remain in southern Lebanon for the long term until Hezbollah is disarmed.
He also acknowledged real tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, but said such disputes are normal for a sovereign country. "There are real disagreements," he said. "The challenge is to stand your ground while preserving achievements. The prime minister looks after U.S. interests, we look after ours." He rejected criticism that Israel has halted its military campaign, attacked the opposition, and said Israel has already achieved major gains, pushing Iran back.
On Gaza, Smotrich said the enclave will be left in ruins unless it is demilitarized, and that Hamas must be destroyed. He also expressed support for settlement in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, saying areas without long-term settlement also lose a military presence. On the domestic coalition crisis over the draft law and arrests of ultra-Orthodox men, he backed the Haredi public, opposed arrests, and said the issue should be resolved after elections. He ended by citing what he called a major achievement in the West Bank, more than 100 new communities, and said the next coalition must continue that process and complete judicial reform.
