In an interview with Channel 7, Finance Minister and Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich said Israel will remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah does not disarm. He said the IDF’s troops and commanders are fighting with courage and determination, and that they are achieving major gains by systematically clearing the area near the border.
Smotrich sharply attacked opposition lawmakers, calling them “irresponsible” and “reckless,” and accusing them of hurting Israel’s security and spreading fear among soldiers. He said, “IDF fighters are fighting with enormous heroism. They are achieving enormous results, protecting the residents of the north, protecting their security,” adding that the fallen and wounded have left the country deeply indebted.
He rejected claims that IDF soldiers are being harmed because of pressure from the United States, saying, “There is no such thing. We know how to stand firm on the security interests, both of the residents of the north and, no less important, those of the IDF fighters.” He also warned against “cheap populism” and using soldiers for political gain, saying no one should make a “cynical-political move on the backs of the fighters” just to get more likes or win elections.
Smotrich said Israel would remain in southern Lebanon, as the prime minister and defense minister have also said, until Hezbollah is disarmed. “We will stay there as many years as necessary, both from Beaufort and beyond it, to make sure Hezbollah does not return to strengthening and arming itself as it did for 20-30 years of misconception,” he said. He added that Israel’s security concept has changed over the past two and a half years, and said the military is now only about a 10-minute decision from the political leadership away from operating in Iran, something he said was not true in the past.
