Note from the Editor: I have copied this Statement from a WhatsApp group.
Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל יוֹאֵל סְמוֹטְרִיץ׳; born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022.
Statement from Bezalel Smotrich, June 30, 2025
After two weeks, we will truly be finished. The elation of a people who did not wait this time. We have summoned and prepared our enemies with force and removed the immediate existential threat that looms over us from Iran.
A more than amazing performance by the IDF and the Mossad, proof to the people and the world of the strong alliance between us and the United States, and a demonstration of extraordinary resilience and resilience of Israeli society.
All of this, by God's grace and with His help, has brought great salvation. These two weeks are the continuation of the determined and successful campaign that we have been waging to eradicate the terrorist arms of the Iranian octopus for twenty months, and they are positioning Israel as the great and powerful power in the Middle East and one of the strongest in the entire world.
But it is natural and necessary that, as a direct continuation of this, we will now expand the peace covenants of the Abraham Accords, and we are indeed determined to lead there together with President Trump.
Peace for peace and the potential for prosperity and a tremendous development momentum for the region and the entire world.
***
I have been saying for a very long time that our victories in all arenas, and in Gaza we will also win completely, will open up great opportunities for us for a new architecture, a reorganization of the entire Middle East.
Defeating the Shiite axis of evil and positioning Israel as the strongest regional power in the region will break the barrier of fear of Iran and its allies among the moderate axis countries and make them want to join the State of Israel.
We live in a neighborhood where everyone flees from the weak and joins the strong. Against the backdrop of the achievements of the war, the State of Israel is without a doubt the most powerful factor in the Middle East today, and whoever joins it will put themselves on the side of strength and will be able to enjoy everything it has to offer in the areas of security, the economy, innovation, technology, morality, and values.
As part of the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the Middle East will be reshaped with a grand vision centered on the State of Israel as a geographical and essential crossroads connecting the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. A political, security, and economic power that connects continents and constitutes a regional trade center and a focus of innovation, science, initiative, and creativity that radiates throughout the environment and brings much light and goodness to the Middle East and the entire world.
In our current situation, and in the close alliance between us and the United States under the leadership of President Trump, the interest in joining the Abraham Accords lies with Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and others. They are the ones who must "pay" us for these alliances and for the great work we have done for them in eradicating the Iranian and Hamas axis of evil, which threatens them no less than it threatens us.
***
Therefore, it is so delusional that there are those who even imagine that we are the ones who have to "pay" for these peace agreements in the hard and dangerous currency of agreeing to give up the territories of our small homeland and establishing a Palestinian terrorist state that will endanger our existence and future.
The idea that we supposedly need to "pay" the Saudis by agreeing to a Palestinian state so that they will do us a favor and be willing to normalize relations with us is so delusional and defeatist that only the Israeli left could conceive of it. A world power like the State of Israel should not and cannot beg anyone to sign peace agreements with it. This is in the interest of the Saudis, the Syrians, and the Lebanese many times more than it is in our interest. They will receive many times more from these peace alliances with Israel and the United States than we will receive, and if they set conditions or don't want to, then good for them. We will manage without them. We will continue to grow and prosper without them just as we have done for 77 years, and we will leave them in the dust.
The State of Israel will never agree to divide the country, hand over territories to the enemy, and establish a terrorist state that will jeopardize its existence and future. Not even under the cover of a fog screen of fictitious "reforms" in the PA or other lies. We were already in the horror movie of Arafat delivering peace speeches with lip service in English and inciting terrorists to blow themselves up in Israeli cities in Arabic. Only a complete idiot repeats the same mistake over and over again and expects a different result each time.
The Israeli government of which I am a part will not miss the historic victories that have cost us so much blood, literally, and will not bow down to anyone. On the contrary, we will leverage the military and security power that we have created with God's help and through the heroism of our fighters over the past twenty months and translate it into political and economic power, with a sense of dignity and national pride, and with those of our neighbors who want to be near us and with the tremendous contribution that we can give them, without making arrogant demands that would jeopardize our future and, God forbid, turn Kfar Saba into Kfar Gaza, Netanya into Bari, and Nitzani Oz into Nahal Oz.
***
I know Prime Minister Netanyahu and have spent many hours with him almost daily (and nightly...) for the past two and a half years. He is a great statesman and understands this simple analysis well. I know his deep opposition to the delusional idea of a Palestinian state and I am confident that he would never consider agreeing, even hintingly, to throwing away the achievements of the war and awarding a prize for terrorism in agreement with a Palestinian state.
