Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich voiced strong disapproval of fellow cabinet members and other Knesset members who have drawn comparisons between the treatment of the three hostages released on Shabbos and the horrors faced by Holocaust survivors.
“The suffering of our hostages in brutal Hamas captivity is heartbreaking. But comparisons to the Holocaust are a grave mistake and belittle the Holocaust,” Smotrich stated, despite frequently referring to Hamas as “Nazis,” including during his remarks on this occasion.
He continued, addressing those who continue to make such comparisons: “But for those who still compare Hamas’s treatment of our hostages to the Holocaust today and seek to make us surrender to Hamas because of it, I have a question: Would you sign a deal with Hitler that keeps the Nazis in power and allows them to prepare the next Holocaust?” This reasoning, Smotrich argued, was the foundation of his opposition to any peace deal that would leave Hamas in power.
“Alongside the importance of returning all the hostages, we have to destroy and wipe off the face of the map Hamas and everyone, and everything, connected to it in the Gaza Strip so that there will not be a single person on earth who would think of kidnapping Jews and treating them this way again,” Smotrich emphasized.
Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Miri Regev has criticized the Supreme Court and its newly appointed president, Justice Isaac Amit, in the wake of the hostages’ release. She appears to suggest that Israel should treat Palestinian prisoners in the same way Hamas, which she refers to as Nazis, treats Israeli hostages.
“To Justice Isaac Amit and his clique in the Supreme Court who said their doors are open and who deliberate seriously over petitions regarding nutrition, the thickness of the mattress and the amount of bedding for accursed Nukhba terrorists, I suggest connecting to reality, looking at the state of our hostages, and kicking the petitioners down the steps [of the court],” Regev said.
As the High Court of Justice, the Supreme Court has reviewed numerous petitions regarding the conditions of Palestinian security prisoners, including Hamas terrorists, throughout the war.
Several reports have surfaced regarding the mistreatment of such prisoners by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility, leading to two indictments so far and prompting petitions to the High Court to shut down the facility.
In response, the High Court ordered the state to ensure it was not violating laws concerning the treatment of Palestinian prisoners but ultimately decided not to close Sde Teiman. Instead, a new, improved facility was constructed at the site.
{Matzav.com Israel}