Smotrich claims formation of government with Arab party is far worse than Oct. 7 failures

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed that forming a government coalition with an Arab political party would be worse than the October 7 failures, while separately the IDF reported that Hezbollah fired twice at Israeli troops in south Lebanon overnight with no reported injuries. The statement reflects ongoing tensions within Israel's governing coalition over domestic political composition amid the active conflict with Hezbollah.

Based on initial report · will update when full text is available