Smotrich says he 'didn't know' about the Nukhba forces before October 7

Finance Minister Smotrich faced backlash after admitting he hadn't heard of Hamas's elite Nukhba force before October 7, despite serving in Israel's Defense Ministry.

By SHIR PERETS DECEMBER 15, 2024 03:30

Minister of Finance and Head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, October 23, 2023 (photo credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich admitted he did not know about the existence of the Nukhba forces prior to October 7 in a National Education Conference with Makor Rishon on Thursday.

“There is a serious problem with the relationship between the military and the government; the government is constantly kept out of the loop,” he said. 

“I didn't know there was such a thing as Nukhba before October 7, and I'm someone who always reads security cabinet materials - I didn't know a quarter of the infrastructure that exists in Lebanon for the Radwan force.”

Smotrich continued, “There are enormous information gaps; there is disobedience from the senior command in the IDF to the political echelon not once, not twice, and not three times."

Israelis react to the discovery

Many Israelis on social media expressed disappointment in Smotrich for this, with many saying it was "embarrassing" for a member of the Defense Minister to admit such a thing.

עם הווידאוסמוטריץ' בוועידת מקור ראשון: הדרג המדיני ממודר מאוד לא ידעתי שיש דבר כזה נוח'בה לפני ה-7.10 pic.twitter.com/rXQ4Sw0VTw

— עמיאל ירחי (@amiel_y) December 12, 2024

“This is not the flex he thinks it is,” one user wrote on X/Twitter.

״My mom said this is what happens when the only book you open is the Torah," another added.

Nukhba forces in Israeli TV

The IDF has published digital explainers of enemy forces – including Nukhba and Radwan – as early as 2016, but the Nukhba forces became well-known in 2020 when the popular Israeli show Fauda featured the brigade in their third season.

When the episode aired, the creators of the show published their own explainer of the Nukhba forces, referring to them as Hamas’s elite unit, with its purpose being, “to conduct deep strikes within Israeli territory, take over military posts, and kidnap soldiers.”

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Some social media users mocked Smotrich, pointing out that the confession not only proved his lack of knowledge of Israel’s security but pop culture as well.

“What a weird way of saying you’ve never seen Fauda,” one user commented, “every 14-year-old knew about Nukhba.”

“People used to be embarrassed to admit this stuff,” another added.