National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir denounced the emerging hostage deal in a Thursday night press conference, calling it a "reckless agreement" and threatening to exit the coalition.
Ben-Gvir criticized the proposed deal for including a withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor and halting military operations, warning it would undermine the war's achievements and fail to secure the release of all remaining hostages.
“This deal will erase the progress we have made and bring an end to the fighting,” Ben-Gvir said. “If the agreement is approved, we will submit letters of resignation and no longer be part of the government.”
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Press statement by Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir
(Photo: Alex Gamburg)
He added that his faction would only rejoin the coalition if military operations resumed with the clear goal of achieving decisive victory and fulfilling the war's objectives.
Prior to the announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's confidant, Natan Eshel, announced that Ben-Gvir has resigned from the government. Ben-Gvir has been threatening to resign from the government if the hostage deal reached between Israel and Hamas goes ahead, and even suggested that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich join him in the move.
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Ben-Gvir's statement comes in the shadow of the crisis in the negotiations after the deal was approved Wednesday night, but senior sources said that "there was no political connection to the crisis. There were issues on which Hamas tried to squeeze out a few additional concessions - and was rebuffed. Regarding the schedule of discussions, it is likely that if we receive a final green light from the team in Doha, there will be a cabinet discussion on Friday and a government discussion on Saturday night. After that, there will be 24 hours for petitions to the High Court of Justice, and on Monday the implementation of the agreement will begin."
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Itamar Ben Gvir says he and his party will resign from the government
(Photo: Shilo Shalom)
On Tuesday, after the breakthrough in the talks, Ben Gvir went on the attack and said that this was a "surrender deal 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 deal," he said at the time. After a year during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Israel had torpedoed deals, Ben Gvir proudly admitted that "with our political power, we have managed to prevent the agreement so far."