Ben-Gvir threatens to resign over proposed hostage deal, calls it ‘reckless’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir denounced the nascent hostage deal at a news conference Thursday evening, calling it a “reckless deal” and threatening to leave the coalition.

Ben-Gvir criticized the proposed deal because it included a withdrawal from the Philadelphia corridor and a halt to military operations, warning that it would undermine war gains and fail to secure the release of all remaining hostages.

“This deal will erase the progress we have made and end the fighting,” Ben-Gvir said. “If the deal is approved, we will submit letters of resignation and will no longer be part of the government.”

He added that his faction would only rejoin the coalition if military operations resumed with the clear objective of achieving a decisive victory and achieving the objectives of the war.

Before this announcement, Natan Eshel, confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that Ben-Gvir had resigned from the government. Ben-Gvir threatened to resign from the government if the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas continued, and even suggested that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich join him in this effort.

Ben-Gvir’s statement comes in the shadow of the crisis in the negotiations after the agreement was approved on Wednesday evening, but senior sources said “there was no political link to the crisis . concessions – and was rebuffed. Regarding the schedule of discussions, it is likely that if we receive the final green light from the team in Doha, there will be a cabinet discussion on Friday and a government discussion on Saturday evening. be 24 hours for petitions addressed to the High Court of Justice, and on Monday the implementation of the agreement will begin.”

On Tuesday, after the negotiations progressed, Ben Gvir went on the attack and declared that it was a “capitulation agreement to Hamas”, and called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to resign from the government if it was approved. “Otzma Yehudit alone does not have the ability to prevent the surrender agreement,” he said at the time. After a year in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel had torpedoed agreements, Ben Gvir proudly admitted that “thanks to our political power, we have managed to prevent the agreement so far.”