{"id":505903,"date":"2026-06-22T19:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/505903\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T19:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:03:11","slug":"itamar-ben-gvir-warns-against-weak-ceasefire-with-iran-hezbollah-at-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/505903\/","title":{"rendered":"Itamar Ben-Gvir warns against ‘weak ceasefire’ with Iran, Hezbollah at press conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir<\/a> (Otzma Yehudit) warned against a “weak ceasefire” deal in Lebanon amid the emerging US-Iran agreement, saying that Israel should reject any deal that does not lead to a decisive victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot another weak ceasefire. Anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel must pay a price that will be unbearable,\u201d Ben-Gvir said during a Monday press conference at the Knesset.<\/p>\n

The remarks came shortly after US Vice President JD Vance<\/a> said that \u201ca lot of good progress\u201d had been made in talks held in Switzerland. Addressing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Vance said that, while \u201cwe want Israel\u2019s security to be protected, we also want Lebanon\u2019s sovereignty to be protected,\u201d describing the issue as an \u201congoing conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing the vice president, Ben-Gvir said in his answers to press questions: \u201cI\u2019m telling Vance, what would you do in response to these Nazis?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic opportunity to create security for our future generations, to look straight into the eyes of the families of the fallen and tell them that their sons did not fall in vain,\u201d Ben-Gvir said.<\/p>\n

\"JaredJared Kushner speaks to members of the media next to U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Kiryat Gat, Israel, October 21, 2025. (credit: REUTERS\/AMMAR AWAD)<\/p>\n

‘We respect’ Trump, but Israel comes first – Ben Gvir<\/p>\n

\u201cThe equation must be simple: the State of Israel must be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not, Beirut will look like Beit Hanoun [in the Gaza Strip],\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir said that, while Israel values its relationship with US President Donald Trump<\/a>, security considerations must take precedence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe respect President Trump, but first of all, the soldiers of Israel, our fighters, our citizens. The security of Israel\u2019s civilians comes first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Referring to multiple recent casualties of IDF soldiers, Ben-Gvir said Israel had paid a heavy price in Lebanon and argued that previous policies had failed to provide lasting security.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears of measured responses, imaginary equations, and attempts to buy temporary quiet have not brought security,\u201d he said. \u201cOur enemies interpreted this as weakness and continued to strengthen themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir argued that future attacks on Israel should be met with a far harsher response.<\/p>\n

The national security minister also added that, if \u201cLebanon<\/a> allows itself to become a base for terrorism against Israel, Beirut must understand that it will not be able to continue operating normally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who chooses war against Israel must bear the consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir then sharply criticized former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is a leading candidate in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy position, which says the lives of Israel\u2019s citizens come first, and that Israeli mothers must not continue paying the price for surrender to international pressure, represents a huge public in Israel, far more than the position of the fraud Bennett, who is once again taking a diving course toward the electoral threshold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn moments like these, leadership is tested. Not in the ability to explain why something cannot be done, not in trying to please anyone, but in the courage to do what is necessary so that Israel\u2019s citizens can live in security. The lives of our soldiers and residents come first,\u201d Ben-Gvir said.<\/p>\n

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) warned against a “weak ceasefire” deal in Lebanon amid the emerging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[957,54,42,86,142930,954,11487,1486,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-505903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-ben-gvir","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-hezbollah","tag-iran-deal","tag-israeli-politics","tag-jd-vance","tag-memorandum-of-understanding","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}