Smotrich: Including an Arab Party in the Government Is a Thousand Times Worse Than the Failures of October 7

The discourse of racism and hatred that the world needs to demand be changed in political discourse, and the curricula that produce such mentalities in Israel

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to include an Arab party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the government failures related to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

During an interview with Radio 103FM, Smotrich expressed his displeasure with Bennett, accusing him of “abandoning” his voters after the 2021 elections and breaking numerous campaign promises to form his government.

When the interviewer asked him which was “more dangerous,” forming the previous government with Raam or the failure of the October 7 massacre, Smotrich replied: “Certainly, forming a government with Mansour Abbas.”

While acknowledging that October 7th was a “terrible failure that must be investigated,” he described it as a “tactical failure” based on “a model that has been in place for 30 to 40 years, of which I was not a part.”

The interviewer, puzzled, asked, “Did you just say that forming a government with Mansour Abbas was worse than the October 7th massacre?”

Smotrich replied, “Absolutely. The intention is far worse than the mistake.”