Feiglin: There was 'terrible betrayal dismantling IDF' before Oct. 7 massacre, forgives Smotrich

Moshe Feiglin says he has forgiven Bezalel Smotrich, even as the two politicians prepare to campaign together. The Zehut party chairman told 103FM that Smotrich’s earlier attacks belonged to the pressure of political campaigning and no longer shaped their relationship.

Feiglin said Zehut and Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party would run as a technical bloc, not as a single party. He stressed that they would conduct separate campaigns and operate independently after the election. Feiglin predicted that Zehut would win five Knesset seats and claimed the alliance could produce a double-digit mandate total.

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I think what you do not understand is that it is possible to forgive as well.

One of Feiglin’s demands is the Defense Ministry portfolio. Asked how someone described as irresponsible and megalomaniacal could serve as defense minister, he defended Zehut’s political line, saying it had opposed the Oslo process and predicted the October 7 massacre more accurately than the generals.

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I think this deal will lead to the next kidnappings. I did oppose it, and I still oppose it.

Feiglin also rejected hostage-release deals and argued that Gaza should have faced an immediate, comprehensive siege. “I think this deal will lead to the next kidnappings. I did oppose it, and I still oppose it,” he said. He argued that the war should have focused first on defeating Hamas and preventing future kidnappings and massacres.

On responsibility for the October 7 failure, Feiglin rejected assigning blame solely to the political leadership. “Responsibility for the massacre is divided equally between both sides, between the left and the right,” he said. He also questioned whether the full truth about a possible internal betrayal would ever become known.

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Responsibility for the massacre is divided equally between both sides, between the left and the right.