Israel’s Far-Right Finance Minister Demands Expanded War Cabinet

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023, in the aftermath of an attack by Palestinian militants on October 7. (AFP)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023, in the aftermath of an attack by Palestinian militants on October 7. (AFP)
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Israel’s Far-Right Finance Minister Demands Expanded War Cabinet

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023, in the aftermath of an attack by Palestinian militants on October 7. (AFP)
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023, in the aftermath of an attack by Palestinian militants on October 7. (AFP)

Israel's far-right finance minister, who has so far been excluded from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, called on Monday for lawmakers taking a harder line towards Hamas to be included in decisions about the war.

Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition includes parties from Israel's far right, has been managing the war with a small group of ministers from his hawkish Likud party and a centrist opposition group that joined an emergency government shortly after Hamas' deadly rampage through southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other hardline members of the broader cabinet have been excluded from much of the decision making, and were particularly critical of a decision last week to accede to a US request to allow some fuel into Gaza for humanitarian reasons.

"I think this grave mistake necessitates the expansion of the war cabinet," said Smotrich, arguing that letting in fuel gave Hamas a lifeline during the war.

Netanyahu's office declined to comment.

Smotrich, in a statement, said the war cabinet should include "opinions that until today have not been heard", including from those with a record of calling for Hamas to be eliminated.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.