White House rails against Israel's Bezalel Smotrich as countries call for Gaza ceasefire

Israel has now 'completed nearly all of its major military objectives' in Gaza, National Security Council says

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks to a journalist in Jerusalem in October 2021. AFP

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Tension between the US and Israeli officials appeared to be at a boiling point on Friday, with the White House calling far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's disparagement of a ceasefire deal in Gaza “outrageous” and “absurd”.

The rebuke comes after the release of a joint statement on Thursday by the US, Qatar and Egypt, which called on Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table on August 15 to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Mr Smotrich lashed out on X, saying a deal to end the war in Gaza now would allow Hamas to “rehabilitate and return to murdering Jews again”. He also called the ceasefire negotiations a “trap”.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called Mr Smotrich's comments “outrageous” and “absurd” – some of the toughest language yet Washington has issued against an Israeli official.

“Anybody who knows President [Joe] Biden and how staunchly he's been a defender for Israel for the entirety of his public service ought to be ashamed for thinking anything different,” he told reporters.

National security council spokesman John Kirby talks to The National during Nato summit

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Mr Kirby also emphasised that Israel has “completed nearly all of its major military objectives other than the explicit war aim of bringing the hostages home”.

Mr Biden “won't allow extremists to blow things off course, including extremists in Israel making these ridiculous charges against the deal”, Mr Kirby added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that it would send a delegation to the resumed negotiations, to be held in Cairo or Doha.

The UAE was among the countries to quickly express support for the landmark joint statement pushing to bring about a ceasefire.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued a statement thanking the mediators and emphasising that “the UAE hopes that the parties will not delay this any further”.

Israel's military operations in Gaza have killed about 39,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October, according to local authorities.

There are about 115 hostages still being held by Hamas, according to Israel.

Mr Smotrich also criticised “an illusory symmetry between the Israeli abductees” and “terrorists” involved in the detainee exchange process.

But Mr Kirby pointed to the recent historic East-West prisoner swap that saw the largest return of Americans detained in Russia since the Cold War.

“Sometimes countries that value the lives of their citizens, as we do in the United States and as Israel does, make these kinds of trades to save lives, innocent lives. There's no surrender in that,” Mr Kirby said.

In the spring, Israel agreed to a US-proposed detainee-hostage exchange that would allow the release of about 700 Palestinians in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

The White House emphasised that Washington is “moving forward with the deal” and that the burden of achieving it is on “both sides”.

The renewed push comes as the region braces for Iranian retaliation after the assassination last week of Hamas political leader and negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which many have blamed on Israel.

Tension with Israel has risen between the Biden administration and Mr Netanyahu over Israel's far-right government and the military's conduct in Gaza, most notably the expansion of military operations into the southern Gaza city of Rafah earlier this year.

But despite setting “red lines” and pausing shipments of some weapons, Washington has continued to send billions of dollars in new military aid to its historic ally throughout the Gaza war.