Tactical Error? Rescued Hostage Or Levy Delivers a Brutal Message to Smotrich

Or Levy, who survived a brutal period of captivity in Gaza, published a deeply personal and stinging rebuke of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday evening. The post was a direct reaction to Smotrich’s recent characterization of the October 7 terrorist massacre as a "tactical error." Levy, who lost his wife during the attacks before being dragged into the tunnels, argued that such language is a deceptive attempt to downplay the catastrophic nature of the events.

In his post, Levy returned to the psychological trauma of the tunnels, describing the moments he believed his life was over. "When I was there, in the tunnels, I was sure it was the end," he wrote, emphasizing that the memory is an indelible stain on the nation's history. He argued that no member of the current leadership can emerge "clean" from the shadow of that day, regardless of how they choose to label the failure.

Levy pushed back against the idea that his criticism was a matter of partisan politics. He revealed that he had voted for parties on the same side of the political spectrum as Smotrich in the past, but insisted that this issue transcends "right and left." For Levy, the debate is about "truth versus lies," and he accused the government of trying to erase the word "massacre" from the national consciousness to ensure their own political survival.

The most poignant part of Levy’s message focused on the human cost of the security failure. "A tactical error murdered my wife," he stated bluntly, adding that the war "stole a year and a half of my life." He described the agonizing experience of returning home and seeing his child look at him in a state of unutterable distress, a moment that highlighted the total destruction of his family unit.

Levy also turned his fire toward the rest of the coalition, criticizing their silence in the face of Smotrich’s comments. He suggested that by failing to respond to such a minimizing description of the massacre, the entire government has failed the victims and survivors. "If you choose to delete the word massacre and no one dares to react, you all get a big zero," he wrote, expressing deep disappointment in the political system.

The post has resonated widely across Israel, serving as a reminder that for those who lived through the horror, the terminology used by politicians is not just semantics, but a matter of fundamental respect for the dead. Levy concluded by demanding that the event be called exactly what it was, without sanitization. His words underscore a growing rift between the families of the victims and a government that is increasingly seen as being out of touch with the reality of the tragedy.