After only three months, far-right deputy minister quits role to return to Knesset
Almog Cohen’s sudden move could push Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot out of parliament, setting scene for potential fight between party and coalition’s Otzma Yehudit
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Deputy Minister for Artificial Intelligence Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) announced his resignation from the government on Sunday, less than three months after being appointed.
The far-right politician, whose rule was within the Prime Minister’s Office, said that he aimed to return to the Knesset in order to advance legislation to establish an airport in the southern moshav of Nevatim.
Cohen, a resident of the southern city of Ofakim, has long been a proponent of establishing a civil airport in the Negev. Despite reservations from security officials, a bill sponsored by Cohen and other lawmakers calling for the establishment of an international airport in Nevatim, already the site of an IAF base, is currently making its way through the Knesset.
However, Israel’s National Planning and Building Council is said to be discussing an alternate location in the Jezreel Valley, angering Cohen.
“The Deep State is mistaken in thinking that it is the sovereign, that it will determine where the airport…will be built,” he declared. “I am returning to the Knesset to bring the cross-party bill to establish an airport in Nevatim to a vote in second and third reading — [it is] a national project that will create tens of thousands of jobs and make the Negev flourish for generations.”
“Any MK — from the right or the left — who does not support the law will be held accountable to the residents of the Negev and the valley,” Cohen added.
The far-right politician’s return to his old Knesset seat will push out Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot under the so-called Norwegian Law.
Following an extended period of conflict with his own Otzma Yehudit party, Cohen was appointed to a deputy ministerial position in early April and resigned as a lawmaker under the law, which allows cabinet members and deputy ministers to resign their Knesset seats while they hold their ministerial posts.
This allowed for the return of Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot who, as the MK holding the lowest spot on the two parties’ joint electoral list in the 2022 national election, was pushed out when Otzma Yehudit left the government in January in protest of the government’s approval of a ceasefire-hostage release deal.
Following Otzma Yehudit’s return to the coalition in March, none of its ministers resigned under the Norwegian Law in order to bring back Sukkot, angering Religious Zionism, which accused Otzma Yehudit of violating an agreement between the parties.
Cohen’s acceptance of a deputy ministerial position in April allowed Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to kill two birds with one stone, smoothing over tensions with Religious Zionism chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, while also ridding himself of Cohen, who frequently bucked party discipline.
Neither Sukkot, Ben Gvir, nor Smotrich responded publicly to Cohen’s decision on Sunday.
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