Current sectionIsrael NewsIsrael Political News'If It Were Up to You, We Wouldn't Be Back' The finance minister known for his opposition to a hostage deal claimed he had a 'dramatic, not to say decisive' influence on the conduct of the war. Or Levy, who spent close to 500 days in captivity, called him 'a disgrace of a human being' in responseShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribe12:00 AM • June 29 2026 IDTIsraeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich took credit for the return of all hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, in an interview broadcast on Sunday.CommentsIn the NewsFormer Israeli Hostage Calls Out Smotrich for Taking Credit for Freeing Hostages'Stop This Goddamn War': Capt. David Hazutt, Killed in Lebanon, Laid to RestIDF Says It Killed Militants in Israel-controlled Territory in Southern SyriaAryan, Jewish – and Even Regime Insiders: The Lives of Lesbians Under NazismFar-right Israeli MK Attempts Once Again to Break Into School in Arab CityRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIAs the World Watched Gaza, Israeli Settlers Charged Ahead in the West Bank. A Clash Is ImminentAdvanced Israeli Systems Sold to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Documents and Images ShowA Collapsing Society: Israel Suffers National Mental Crisis Due to the WarFlagGate: How Israel Set Off a Storm by Hosting a Separatist Genocide DenierIsrael, the Country We Love, the Country We're Ashamed OfIsraeli Killed in Montreal Attack, Shooter Allegedly Linked to Incel Ideology