Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, former head of the Prisoners of War and Missing Persons Command, was interviewed this morning (Wednesday) by Udi Segal at the 'Herzliya Conference' held at Reichman University, and rejected Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's claim that thanks to his position, all the abductees were returned.
Nitzan said: "With the victories, or rather with the gaps that remained for us in Gaza, we fought a long war that could have been ended at least a year earlier. Certainly, strategically we could have achieved the same achievements or not achieved the same achievements that we did not achieve - such as disarming Hamas and the like. We paid a heavy price with dead soldiers, maybe even some dead hostages, enormous prices in blood and gore that were not necessary to pay.".
Regarding Minister Smotrich's claim, he said: "Even when talking about returning all the abductees, it must be remembered that approximately 40 abductees who were kidnapped alive were killed in captivity, and I do not forget that. In certain places, we could have perhaps through other functions and decisions or other negotiations returned them alive, so that is a given. Minister Smotrich is the one who opposed some of the agreements at various stages and I do not think he can take credit for returning all the abductees.".
He said, "The cabinet and the political leadership refused earlier deals - complete ones, in the name of that total victory, which is actually false. The push for partial proposals in various forums or an alternative of a partial agreement and a broader agreement, the choice was for a partial agreement to allow the continuation of the fighting. There is also a certain logic in this, but strategically, to manage the war for over two years until the American administration forced its end on us - that was not the optimal path with the prices we paid.".
Regarding the murder of the six kidnapped in the tunnel, he said: "This is just another one of the moments and times during this period. We also had operational errors in the planning of this move and its execution, and our working assumptions were not good enough in the possibility that they would be transferred like other groups back towards Khan Yunis. The understanding was very quick that it was indeed these six. I did not need their identification for this. Strategically, there were several opportunities before the end of August 24 when it was possible to return them, and this is also a very difficult feeling of missing out. They fought for their lives and survived 11 terrible months, and there was hope that it could have ended differently.".
Religious Zionism responded to Nitzan Alon's words:
""Throughout two years of war, Nitzan Allon pushed for complete surrender to Hamas. If, God forbid, we had accepted his opinion, Hamas would have regained control of our settlements' fence, with an international commitment to reconstruct the Strip without demilitarization. This, in addition to international guarantees that we would not return to fight it and a dangerous wait for the next October 7th.".
""Through hard work, including paying heavy prices, we brought home all the hostages, both living and dead, without surrendering to Hamas. Today, we control 70% of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas is imprisoned in a tight space cell with international guarantees for its complete dismantling. We maintain the security of the residents of the south, keep the threat at bay, and do not allow Hamas to regain strength.".
""It's fortunate that we didn't surrender to Nitzan Alon and the irresponsible campaign that called for the State of Israel to surrender to a terrorist organization, which would have increased their motivation to kidnap Jews as a tool to subdue the State of Israel.".
