Israel: Zionist rabbis oppose prisoner exchange, ceasefire deal in Gaza

Senior rabbis of the right-wing religious Zionist community in Israel have rejected the signing of a prisoner swap-ceasefire deal with Hamas. In an open letter released on Monday, the rabbis claimed that the dangers posed by withdrawing troops from Gaza and swapping prisoners trumped the Jewish religious imperative to free captives.

“The prices demanded to free the hostages endanger all Israelis, old, young and women,” claimed the signatories. “For example: releasing all the dangerous monsters [sic] so Hamas can rebuild its collapsed army, withdrawing from strategic areas, and stopping the fighting before Hamas is defeated.”

The letter follows threats by the extreme right-wing head of the Religious Zionism Party and Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the equally far-right head of the Otzma Yehudit Party and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, to topple the government if a prisoner exchange and ceasefire deal is reached.

However, the Zionist rabbis’ position contradicts that of rabbis from the Shas movement and its party leaders, who last week called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move towards a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange deal.

“The Shas bloc supports your efforts to return our kidnapped brothers and sisters, and leading the deal that is currently in advanced negotiations,” the Shas rabbis wrote to Netanyahu. “We believe that the circumstances emerging now in the wake of the blessed military pressure and assassinations, create an appropriate timing in order to reach a deal that preserves Israel’s vital security and returns the kidnapped people to their homes.”

READ: We will do everything to prevent a Palestinian state, Israel minister says