Avi Maoz, deputy minister in the prime minister's office, attacks the deal that appears to be a prisoner exchange, and says that it is a surrender to terrorism.
According to Maoz: "If this is a deal as published in the media, then it is about stopping the entire momentum of the war, putting our soldiers at excessive risk and seriously losing our deterrent power in the region. We went to war with the certainty that the way to return our abductees is to conquer the Gaza Strip and eliminate Hamas."
Maoz added that "I firmly oppose surrendering to terrorism and international pressure and call on the government to return the army to full combat until the mission is completed: full control of the Gaza Strip, the elimination of Hamas and the return of all our abductees. If the government does approve this unfortunate agreement, I demand from the Prime Minister the minimum required : An immediate and public commitment not to stop the photography flights to maintain the wellbeing of our soldiers and to immediately return in five days to full and aggressive combat in order to complete the mission: the occupation of the Gaza Strip, the elimination of Hamas, the repatriation of all our abductees and the removal of the threat from the settlements in the south and north.
"It cannot be that after the terrible shock we received on Simchat Torah we will continue to act in accordance with the old concept as Gantz and Eisenkot are trying to dictate to us," Maoz concluded.