The truth according to Smotrich: death is life, a government that cares about its citizens — abandons them
It is safe to assume that in the Orwellian state that may be established here in the future, Smotrich’s Ministry of Truth will simply convince us all that silence is speech, death is life, and a government that cares for its citizens — leaves them to die in agony.
By Yoana Gonen • Translated by Sol Salbe
At the entrance to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s book 1984 are engraved the inscriptions: “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is power.” Following Israel’s Treasurer [Finance Minister in the local parlance] Bezalel Smotrich’s interview yesterday with Oded Ben-Ami, it is safe to assume that in the Orwellian state that may be established here in the future, Smotrich will be the leading candidate to head the ministry. It would also be safe and one of his first steps will be to add his own slogans: “You can negotiate only when there is no one to negotiate with” and “Bombs are simply strong words.”
The interview with the minister sounded so grotesque and parody-like that, just in case, I made sure that we were indeed on the Sunday programming schedule and that I didn’t accidentally come across the great sendup of him on Eretz Nehederet. Again and again, Smotrich repeated, in various permutations, his contention that only complete avoidance of negotiations would advance the negotiations. “What will bring the return of the abductees home, God willing, is cutting off contact at the moment,” the diplomacy wizard explained, He noted that the only reason that could justify a trip by the Mossad chief to Qatar is to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh and his cohorts, because “if we were in a situation today where there is no one to negotiate with… The abductees would have already been home.”
“I opposed the delegation’s departure to Paris and Qatar last time, and I’ve been proven to be correct. Hamas’ weird position shows that the proponents of the deal in the war cabinet and in the defence establishment have lost their way, and their conduct only gets Gaza Hamas leader Sinwar to climb even higher on his horse which would delay the return of the abductees. It’s time to drop the misconceptions and learn from mistakes.”
He then asserted that there was no serious proposal on the table at the moment, even though at that very time the war cabinet was discussing such a proposal (the Ministry of Truth, as we know, is dedicated to spreading lies). Program host Ben-Ami noted that there is actually a fairly reasonable proposal, and in any case, “you have to try to negotiate, because only when you discuss matters can you narrow the gap.” But someone like Smotrich isn’t going to let the actual physical situation confuse him: “You think that only when we discuss matters will we narrow the gap, and I am convinced that when we discuss matters we will only deepen the gap, but when we communicate through planes and tanks and artillery and our heroic fighters, this is what will narrow the gap,” he explained as if already running through the slogans of the future ministry in his head (“We will communicate through planes and our heroic fighters” does belong there perfectly, Well done Bezalel).
It would have had us in stitches if it weren’t for the fact that while Smotrich is big-noting himself, dozens of Israeli citizens are being held in Gaza in appalling conditions, and the Israeli government is delaying their repatriation using despicable pretexts and lame smears — first and foremost because of him and his psychologically disturbed party members. “The man is detached, doesn’t take responsibility, I’m still in shock from the interview with him,” said Yaron Blum, former coordinator for negotiating the return of POWs and MIAs, who found it difficult to calm down even after the ad break. Don’t worry, in the future country there will be no need for people like Blum anyway — those who think that in order to negotiate you have to, well, negotiate. Smotrich’s Ministry of Truth will simply convince us all that silence is speech, death is life, and a government that cares for its citizens — leaves them to die in agony.
