The war in Gaza could have ended a year “at least a year earlier,” former hostage pointman Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon said Wednesday, hitting back at Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who claimed credit this week for the return of all the captives held by terror groups in the Strip.

Smotrich voted repeatedly throughout the two-year war against deals that would have seen the hostages released earlier than they ultimately were.

Alon asserted that some of the hostages who were killed could have come home alive if different decisions had been made.

“In Gaza, we fought a long war that could have been ended at least a year earlier,” Alon said at the Herzliya Conference at Reichman University. “When talking about the return of all the hostages, it should be remembered that around 40 hostages who were abducted alive were killed in captivity, and I do not forget that.”

“In certain cases, with different conduct and decisions, or different negotiations, we might have been able to bring them back alive,” he said.

“Therefore, Minister Smotrich, who opposed some of the agreements at various stages, I do not think can take credit for the return of all the hostages,” he said.

“The cabinet and the political leadership refused earlier comprehensive deals in the name of that ‘total victory,’ which is in fact a falsehood,” Alon added, referring to a slogan repeated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other coalition members during the war.

Smotrich drew outrage on Sunday for his comments, with former hostage Or Levy accusing him of spreading “gaslighting propaganda” with his claim.

“I think I have a dramatic, even decisive, impact on the war,” Smotrich said in an appearance on Nadav Perry’s “All In” podcast. “I think........

© The Times of Israel