Smotrich Quotes Witkoff After Gaza Visit, Urges Security Buffer

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a Conference of Decision audience that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, after visiting the Gaza border area and viewing October 7 atrocity footage, told him he would not let "two million Nazis" live next to Israeli children along the fence. Smotrich said the meeting took place with Ron Dermer soon after Witkoff's appointment, and described Witkoff as shaken by Hamas's massacre footage. He also argued that enemies who attack Israel must lose land and called for a long-term security buffer on the Lebanese border. The claim is Smotrich's attributed account, not a first-party Witkoff transcript, but it shows how Israeli ministers are presenting U.S. support for hard security guarantees after October 7.