Today (Sunday), Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich called for presenting Hezbollah with an ultimatum, which if it did not heed it, should lead to a ground invasion of southern Lebanon to "establish a security buffer in the south of the state."
"The State of Israel is at war in all the sectors, both in the south and no less in the north," Smotrich said at the beginning of the weekly party meeting. "This war took place because of the preconceived notions shared by senior members of the defense establishment and the IDF over the years, and prime ministers and defense ministers over the generations who believed it possible to suffice with a small, smart army, that military control of territory can be forgone and they can flee beyond fences and walls and suffice with arrangements and agreements which aren't worth the paper they were printed on."
According to the Religious Zionism party leader, "the way to return the residents home to the north is through military decision in a lethal offensive against Hezbollah, its infrastructures, and the destruction of its power. This is the only way. The age in which residents rely on papers and promises which have nothing behind them and which ultimately blow up in our face is over."
He also argued that "we must present Hezbollah with a public ultimatum to entirely cease fire and withdraw all its forces to beyond the Litani River. If the ultimatum is not heeded in full, the IDF must go on an offensive which will defend the residents of the north - including a ground operation and an Israeli military takeover of southern Lebanon."
