"Do you really want to not sleep well at night?" Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asked the members of the war cabinet when referring to the video of the kidnapping of female soldiers from Nahal Oz on October 7. Two weeks later, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tried to convince the cabinet members to watch the video and was refused. Only Chili Tropper agreed to watch it. All the rest, including ministers Dichter, Katz, Levin, and Cohen, refused with the excuse "they did not coordinate with us in advance."
I read this and was shocked. Since October 7, I have not slept well at night. The sights, the concern for the hostages and the soldiers, and the sadness for my fallen students and their families rob me of sleep on a daily basis. But Smotrich chooses not to watch our daughters kidnapped by bloodthirsty terrorists because he prefers to take care of only himself.
In fact, his whole philosophy is linked to this egocentric and disconnected trial. He chooses to be disconnected from the pain of the hostages and their families, disconnected from the pain of the people of Israel, and disconnected from a human, security, legal, and public perspective.
Israel needs strong, capable leaders in the government
Elected officials cannot choose whether to watch the video or not. They cannot select the disasters. They cannot decide what they are comfortable dealing with and what they are not. They were chosen to serve the public in Israel, for better or worse. That's what they were hired to do. If they cannot watch the painful moments in their nation's history, they are not worthy to lead their people. They must admit their limitations to make way for those who can roll up their sleeves and face reality.
The Hamas videos are conclusive proof of the crimes against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. They will be used in the future, in addition to the testimonies of the terrorists, as a trump card in the trial against Hamas for its crimes against humanity. Until that happens, these videos and testimonies can be used for Israeli propaganda every day, at any time and anywhere in the world.
That's why Foreign Minister Israel Katz should watch the video and ensure that every foreign embassy in Israel, with all its personnel, gathers to watch this video and pass on the information to their countries. We must make sure that the heads of the most prestigious universities in the world watch the video as well or we will see them continue to allow supporters of terrorism to chant "We are Hamas" on the lawns of college campuses.
Those who cannot watch the videos because their sleep will be disturbed are not fit to serve this nation or the country. They must relinquish their positions to those who are capable—and quickly.