National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members of his Otzma Yehudit party submitted letters of resignation from the government and coalition on Sunday, as they had previously promised if the deal was approved.
“The irresponsible approval of a deal with the terrorist organization Hamas, which provides for the release of hundreds of murderers with the blood of men, women and children on their hands – some to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria – represents a shameful capitulation,” the party said. . “This agreement loses the IDF’s hard-won gains in the war, involves the withdrawal of forces from Gaza and ends the fighting in a way that leads to capitulation to Hamas. »In his official resignation letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir expressed his “personal appreciation” for the prime minister and said the government had done “wonderful things.” Ben-Gvir, however, reiterated an earlier promise that while the party would now vote based on its “ideology and conscience,” it would not support a vote to overthrow the government.
Otzma Yehudit’s ministers, Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Minister of Negev and Galilee) and Amichai Eliyahu (Minister of Heritage), also presented their resignation letters on Sunday morning. According to the law, the letters will take effect in 48 hours.
Otzma Yehudit MPs who are not ministers – Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kreuzer – will also leave their parliamentary positions, Ben-Gvir said. Fogel was chairman of the Knesset National Security Committee and Kreuzer was a member of the Judicial Selection Committee. We don’t know who will replace them.
MK Almog Cohen, who was also elected to the Knesset as part of the Otzma Yehudit party, has fallen out with his party and will likely act independently.
Ben-Gvir threatened to leave the government if the deal was approved as early as last week.
“The deal that is taking shape is an irresponsible deal,” Ben-Gvir said in a televised statement Thursday. He said the deal would “erase the gains of war” by freeing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and withdrawing from strategic areas of Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
Other MPs threaten to resign
Four other ministers – three from the Religious Zionist Party (Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of National Missions Orit Strock and Minister of Aliya and Integration Ofir Sofer) and one from Likud (Minister of Diaspora Amichai Chikli) – had previously threatened to leave the government if a permanent ceasefire was implemented.
In addition to the three ministers from Otzma Yehudit, the three from RZP and Chikli, Minister of Regional Cooperation Dudi Amsalem also voted against the agreement in the government’s decisive vote on Friday evening.
