Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply attacked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara during an interview with Amit Segal at the Israel Hayom conference, calling for a criminal investigation into her conduct while also defending the revised Basic Law on Torah study.
Smotrich said Baharav-Miara “should be investigated criminally for breach of trust and abuse of office,” and added that Zini and Gofman should file personal libel suits against her. He went on to describe the attorney general as “a political player” and “the chairwoman of an opposition party imposing her agenda by force and violence on the large majority of Israeli citizens.”
Referring to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trial, Smotrich said “Netanyahu’s acquittal is absolutely not enough,” adding that those who, in his words, “framed him all along in the police and prosecution, including Baharav-Miara, need to answer to the Israeli public and sit in prison.”
On the economy, Smotrich argued that despite the war on seven fronts, Israel’s economy remains strong and justifies broader interest-rate cuts. “Look at the shekel, the stock market, high-tech, the job market, and inflation, which is within the target range,” he said. He added that while the war’s results were “not perfect,” Israel’s strategic, geopolitical and security position is “far better than it was on October 6.”
Addressing the revised Basic Law on Torah study, Smotrich said he had opposed earlier versions of the legislation because they could have been interpreted as granting an exemption from military service. He said the current version, by contrast, clearly does not permit draft evasion and does not come at the expense of other national values.
He said the law was also meant in part to protect hesder yeshivos from elements in the opposition, arguing that values such as equality, military service, employment, core studies and Torah study all have to be balanced. He dismissed warnings from Finance Ministry professionals about economic harm as “complete ignorance.”
Turning to Gaza, Smotrich said Israel has made major gains but has not yet finished the job. “All the hostages returned home, both the living and the dead, we control between 60% and 70% of the Strip, and there is an international commitment to dismantling Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza,” he said, adding that “there is no reconstruction without demilitarization.”
Smotrich also called on Netanyahu to allow Israeli construction in those areas. “I call on the prime minister: let us manage the settlement enterprise and establish at least three communities,” he said. According to Smotrich, “the enemy understands only territory,” and taking land is the only way to engrave both a sense of defeat on the enemy and a sense of victory on Israel’s side. “Take territory, build communities there, and entrench your security. That is the picture of victory,” he said.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
