Rabbi Yaakov Medan, head of the Har Etzion Yeshiva, expressed support for Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's (Religious Zionist party) decision to vote against the ceasefire-prisoner swap deal with Hamas but remain in the government.

"The deal is the worst of the worst," Rabbi Medan told Kan Moreshet. "If I was a member of the Cabinet I would vote against it but remain in the government. Like Smotrich."

He added, "I oppose the deal, but I am not sure that there was another alternative. I am proud that the security forces fought for a year and four months and stood like cast iron against the left's demonstrations. In the battle we lost; in the war, we will win."

Rabbi Medan also responded to the claim that the hostages' lives take precedence over the lives of the released terrorists' future victims.

"To those who say that we need to release terrorists in exchange for hostages, because the release of the hostages is now but the concern for future murders is a guess, and what is certain takes precedence over what is uncertain - both are certainties," he stressed. "It is 100% certain that the released terrorists will return to carrying out terror attacks and murdering Jews."

Statistics show that 82% of the 1,027 terrorists released in the 2011 Shalit deal returned to terror following their release. One of the Shalit deal terrorists was Hamas leader archterrorist Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 massacre. Others are scheduled to be released fora second time as part of the current deal - even though the parents of fallen IDF soldier Hadar Goldin were promised multiple times that rearrested Shalit deal terrorists would be freed only in exchange for their son's body and that of Oron Shaul.