Israel’s ruling party threatens to send national security minister packing

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

Cracks are deepening among Israel's far-right officials on the eve of a new Knesset session to decide on highly controversial judicial reforms

Israel’s ruling Likud party on 3 May issued a strongly worded statement to Jewish supremacist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir,  telling him that – if he does not like the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu runs the government – he can leave the coalition.

“The prime minister is the one who decides who is a relevant participant in the discussions. If this is unacceptable to Minister Ben Gvir, he does not have to remain in the government,” the statement says.

The statement was released in response to threats made by Ben Gvir, saying that until Netanyahu implements a full “right-wing” policy, his Religious Zionist party will boycott votes in the Knesset.

“If the prime minister does not want a right-wing government, he is welcome to fire me … We will not attend votes in the Knesset until the prime minister internalizes and understands that we want a fully right-wing government, and that we are an inseparable part of the discussions and part of the implementation of the Israeli government’s security policy,” Ben Gvir said.

The extremist party’s ire comes due to what they called a “weak response” from Tel Aviv this week when Israeli jets bombed residential areas in the besieged Gaza Strip in response to dozens of resistance rockets fired into adjacent settlements.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – who leads the Religious Zionist party alongside Ben Gvir – on Wednesday tried to smooth over tensions, saying that if yet another Israeli government falls, it will be a prize for “terrorists.”

“Friends and partners in the government and coalition, let’s calm down,” Smotrich says in a video posted to social media. “We have to keep the government unified and not give a prize to terror and bring back the left, with their terror supporters, to rule.”

This is the second time in just over a month that Ben Gvir has threatened to walk away from the ruling coalition, a move that would end Netanyahu’s majority in the Knesset.

On 27 March, the security minister threatened to quit if Netanyahu froze contentious judicial reform legislation. Netanyahu took the threat seriously, and Ben Gvir was awarded the creation of a civil militia.

The latest spat among the far-right figures comes just days before the Knesset is set to once again vote on the judicial reforms. This issue has caused deep divisions among Israelis at a time when the Palestinian resistance is gaining support across the region.