The chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben‑Gvir, strongly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging delays in passing a death‑penalty law for terrorists. Speaking at his party’s faction meeting just moments before the formal opening of the winter session of the Knesset — a session that could turn out to be the last if early elections are called — Ben‑Gvir claimed that coalition agreements remain “just markings on paper.”
“When the government was formed, my Otzma Yehudit faction and the Likud faction agreed that in the current Knesset we would pass a law for the death penalty for terrorists,” said Ben‑Gvir. “The wording is written, in black and white, in the coalition agreements. But in practice, things happened differently.” He added that in the year before the war a concerted effort was made to stall the legislation, offering “strange” delays and excuses.
About a month ago, the Knesset’s National Security Committee discussed the bill advanced by Otzma Yehudit. Ben‑Gvir recounted that associates of the prime minister apparently asked him to postpone the hearing, but he refused and the meeting went ahead anyway. The hostages‑and‑missing‑persons coordinator, retired Maj. Gen. Gal Hirsch, told the committee that the timing was problematic — the discussion happening right before the implementation of the hostage‑release deal — and that the mere discussion could jeopardize the lives of hostages in Gaza. Regardless of these warnings, the committee voted 4‑1 to advance the bill to its first reading. However, the Knesset’s legal adviser ruled the vote invalid because it was held during recess and without proper formal authority.
In response to what he described as broken promises, Ben‑Gvir issued a political ultimatum: “We demand that the first law advanced in this current Knesset session be the death‑penalty law for terrorists. If within three weeks the law has not been brought to a plenary vote, Otzma Yehudit will no longer be bound by coalition votes. The time has come for the Likud to stand by its commitment.”
In addition to the legislative issue, Ben‑Gvir addressed the situation in Gaza: “The primary aim of this war is the destruction of Hamas—not just extracting a price from it, but ending its existence,” he said. He urged the prime minister to return to an expansive offensive policy: “Now is the time to regain composure, to return to intense fighting with full power, to conquer, to crush—until this goal is achieved.”
The war in Gaza is a highly sensitive matter for Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionism bloc led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Both parties have publicly made the central objective of this conflict the military, civilian and governmental dismantling of Hamas. Yet the war’s current conclusion—leaving Hamas in power—places the far right of the coalition on edge, anticipating Hamas violations of the truce that could collapse the cease‑fire.
If the Israel Defense Forces does not act forcefully against Hamas in Gaza, Ben‑Gvir and Smotrich may decide to carry out their threat to withdraw cooperation and ride the issue into early elections.