In a statement, Jewish Power announced that it will leave the coalition “in light of the approval of the risky agreement with the Islamic organization Hamas”, just as Ben Gvir had already threatened on Thursday that he would do.
The six deputies from the far-right Israeli party Poder Judaico, led by minister Itamar Ben Gvir, will leave the government coalition on Sunday, in protest against the with the executive losing its parliamentary majority.
Among those who resigned are the party leader and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, the Minister of Development of the Negev and Galilee, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amichai Eliyahu, responsible for the Heritage portfolio.
Along with them, deputies Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kroizer will leave the Knesset (Israeli parliament).
The departure of the six parliamentarians from the Jewish Power will leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition with 59 representatives, below the 61 needed to have a parliamentary majority, although the opposition does not have enough support to assume executive power.
On Thursday, Ben Gvir assured that he would return to the Government if the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip were resumed, which would mean the end of the ceasefire at the end of its first phase, of 42 days.
During the first phase, out of a total of 94 hostages captured in the October 7, 2023 attack and still held captive in the enclave, Hamas will release 33, in exchange for the release of 1,890 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
The remaining 61 hostages, living and dead, will only be returned to Israel at a later stage, the terms of which will still be negotiated between the parties, with the help of mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who, along with Ben Gvir, opposed any ceasefire throughout the war and voted against this agreement, also threatened to leave the Government if Israel did not commit to continuing the war in Gaza, when the first phase of the truce ends.
However, Netanyahu has held at least five meetings with Smotrich in recent days in an attempt to prevent him from leaving, offering to increase Israel’s presence in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media.
If it loses the support of Smotrich’s party, Religious Zionism, Netanyahu’s government risks falling. But opposition leader Yair Lapid offered the prime minister his support as a “safety net” should that happen, so that the agreement can be fulfilled.
On the other hand, in statements to Israeli television station 12, Ben Gvir assured that Netanyahu promised him to dismiss the Chief of Staff of the Army, Herzi Halevi, and give him credit if he did not abandon the coalition.
“Nothing was offered to Ben Gvir. It is a complete lie,” the prime minister’s office reacted tonight in a brief statement.
