On Tuesday, a far-right partner within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Jewish Power party, issued a threat to leave the government if it pursues what he deems a “reckless” deal with Hamas to secure the release of hostages held by the Palestinian group.
Ben-Gvir’s warning, posted on X, comes amid media reports suggesting that Israel is contemplating a prolonged cessation of its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, potentially brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
Jewish Power holds six seats in the coalition, which initially consisted of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament before the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza. Following the onset of the conflict, Netanyahu included the 12-seat centrist party National Unity in an emergency cabinet.
Ben-Gvir and another ultranationalist coalition partner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party, have expressed dissatisfaction with their exclusion from Netanyahu’s small, decision-making war council.
They advocate for a sustained offensive against Hamas and propose resettling Gaza, from which Israel withdrew in 2005. Netanyahu, however, has ruled out rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza but asserts that post-war Gaza will be under Israeli security control.
