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The recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is not a “strategic” victory for the Jewish state, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat told CNBC.
The deal announced last week has so far called for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and, if implemented by all sides, would continue prisoner releases and end a devastating 15-month war between the two rivals.
Still, speaking at the World Economic Forum, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Tuesday, “I don’t think this is a strategic victory. The strategic victory is to bring peace to the Middle East.”
He added that such an outcome would prevent Hamas’ historic ally Iran from achieving what Barkat called Tehran’s goal of “wiping Israel off the world map.”
“We have to make sure they never have that. There are Iran’s fingerprints all over our region, all over October 7,” the minister said, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages.
“We have to make sure they pay a heavy price for that,” he added, saying Israel should also go after “jihadists” in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and “all over the world” and expand the Abraham Accords, a set of normalization agreements. Arab-Israeli relations.
“It would be a strategic victory,” Barkat said.
People walk to their homes through the destroyed streets of Gaza City on January 19, 2025. T
Abood Abusalama | Afp | Getty Images
Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on October 7 and severe restrictions on food and aid supplies to the blockaded enclave have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in the strip, according to local health authorities.
The United Nations and World Health Organization, along with several other international organizations, have described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian disaster” as the destruction of hospitals and critical infrastructure worsens hunger and disease on the ground.
Since the ceasefire was agreed, the number aid going to the enclave increased.
Israel’s economy minister expressed optimism about the administration of the recently inaugurated US President Donald Trump, suggesting that his leadership will be better for Israel than that of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“President Biden, whom we thank for his help, has restrained Israel … President Trump is supporting Israel,” Barkat said. He called Trump more aggressive toward Iran and more supportive of expanding the Abraham Accords he negotiated during his previous term.
“I think that’s the right attitude in the Middle East. You have to be very aggressive with the bad guys and good with the good guys,” he said. “And keep in mind that the peace we have with our neighbors — with Egypt, 40 years and with Jordan, 25 years — the Abrahamic accord, four years (from 2020) has been stuck through this cycle of violence. They understand that we are cooperating.”
The Biden administration has given Israel $17.9 billion in military aid for the year beginning Oct. 7, 2023, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War Project published in October 2024.
