Smotrich's October 7 comments should disgust every single one of us - editorial

The Jerusalem Post's editorial board unequivocally condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's recent remarks, labeling them a "moral failure" of the highest order. Smotrich's comparison of forming a government with the Arab party Ra'am to the October 7 Hamas massacre, deeming the former "a thousand times worse," is not merely a political misstep but a profound distortion of moral reality.

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There are political missteps, and then there are moral failures. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich committed the latter on Tuesday, when he said that forming a government with the Arab party Ra’am would be worse than the October 7 Hamas massacre in 2023, in which over 1200 people were murdered, and 251 were taken hostage.

The editorial highlights the egregious nature of Smotrich's statement, particularly his characterization of the massacre – which claimed over 1200 lives and saw 251 hostages taken – as a mere "tactical failure." By elevating a political decision, however controversial, to a level far exceeding the horror of October 7, Smotrich trivializes the immense suffering of victims and their families. This rhetoric, as the Post argues, weaponizes the trauma of that day, bending its meaning to serve political ends.

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The October 7 massacre is a terrible failure, but it is a tactical failure. Someone who knowingly sold the State of Israel to its enemies and to the Islamic Movement did something a thousand times worse than the worst failure, because it is not just a mistake, it is deliberate.

Even Smotrich's subsequent attempt to clarify his position, distinguishing between a "political act" and a "national catastrophe," fails to mitigate the damage. The editorial asserts that once October 7 is invoked as a point of comparison, its significance can be easily manipulated. The comparison itself, regardless of intent, places the political on the same scale as the catastrophic, a dangerous precedent that erodes the gravity of the massacre.

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For a government minister to draw a comparison between a “political act” and a national catastrophe places the two on the same scale.

From the perspective of the Jerusalem Post, Smotrich's comments represent a severe distortion of moral reality and a failure of language and leadership. The editorial concludes that such statements should "disgust every single one of us," underscoring the deep ethical and political chasm revealed by the Finance Minister's words.

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To describe it as a “tactical failure” is, at best, a failure of language. To then suggest that a coalition decision, however controversial, is “a thousand times worse” is a far more serious distortion of moral reality.