[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: The White House on Friday (Aug 9) rebuked an Israeli far-right minister in unusually strong terms for questioning a US-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose controversial appointment to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government despite his radical background, has urged Israel to reject a U.S. push to negotiate a ceasefire in the 10-month war next week.
In a call with reporters at the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby singled out Smotrich and said he “should be ashamed of himself for questioning President Joe Biden’s intentions.”
“The idea that he would support a deal that would endanger Israel’s security is factually false, outrageous, and ridiculous,” Kirby said of Biden.
Kirby said Smotrich would “sacrifice” Israeli and American hostages who were to be released under the deal, an approach that “flagrantly violates Israel’s national security interests at a critical stage of the war.”
“He said this at a time when President Biden is actually directing U.S. troops to the Middle East to directly defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran or other Iranian-backed terrorist groups,” Kirby said.
[ad_2]
Source link
