Ben Gvir blocks ‘Rabbis Law’ for 3rd time, demands inclusion in PM’s security forum
Religious Services Law and three pieces of Otzma Yehudit-backed legislation removed from Knesset agenda, as national security minister launches attacks on both Shas and Likud
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"
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir torpedoed the Shas-backed Religious Services Law for the third time on Monday, slamming the ultra-Orthodox party for allegedly blocking his inclusion in a senior ministerial forum, which would provide him with greater influence over the course of the war.
Ahead of a scheduled vote in the Knesset plenum on Monday afternoon, Ben Gvir’s ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party issued an ultimatum, stating that “until [Shas chief Aryeh] Deri removes his objection to adding Minister Ben Gvir to the limited forum and the prime minister allows it, the Rabbis Law will not pass.”
The party also claimed that the ultra-Orthodox Shas and associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to torpedo three of its own bills unless it supported the Rabbis Law, which seeks to grant the religious services minister the power to allocate additional funds to local religious councils around the country.
“It is unfortunate that Likud is trying to trade in laws aimed at protecting against sex offenders and criminal organizations and aggravating punishment for minor terrorists in exchange for support for Deri’s patronage law,” Otzma Yehudit accused.
Following Ben Gvir’s threat, the Rabbis Bill as well as three pieces of Otzma Yehudit-backed legislation were removed from the agenda of Monday’s special plenum session, which was called, despite the Knesset currently being on its summer recess.
In a statement, Ben Gvir accused Likud of being willing to “harm the security of the citizens of Israel” for the sake of Shas’s “wheeling and dealing law” — describing this as a “disgrace.”
Otzma Yehudit’s bills would aim to permit the imprisonment of children under the age of 14 on terror charges, lower the minimum age at which restrictions can be imposed on a sex offender to 14, and allow district court judges to impose restrictions on citizens’ freedom of movement and expression on the basis of secret evidence.
Neither Likud nor Shas responded to requests for comment.
Ben Gvir has repeatedly demanded inclusion in the now-defunct war cabinet, stating his desire to be among those leading the decision-making in the war. To that end, he has actively thwarted legislation pushed by fellow coalition party Shas in order to pressure the premier to appoint him to the forum. Shas is reported to have blocked his participation, a claim that it has denied.
Netanyahu is widely regarded as deeply distrusting the firebrand far-right minister and refusing to include him in such decision-making forums, due to his tendency to leak information to the press.
Ben Gvir first threatened to oppose the Shas-backed bill if not given a spot on the war cabinet early last month, sparking bitter mutual recriminations between the two coalition partners and leading Shas lawmakers to stage a walkout from the plenum when the bill was removed from the agenda.
The tensions between Ben Gvir and the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox parties predate the fight over the Rabbis Law, with Otzma Yehudit stating as far back as April that it was no longer bound by coalition discipline due to Shas and United Torah Judaism’s opposition to an expansion of the national security minister’s authority.
Shas and UTJ reportedly opposed giving Ben Gvir control of a unit that enforces building regulations, due to his refusal to support Haredi-backed legislation cementing the ultra-Orthodox establishment’s control over so-called kosher phones.
While the Knesset ultimately passed both the Kosher Phone Law and approved the transfer of the Finance Ministry’s Real Estate Enforcement Division to the National Security Ministry late last month, that did not mark a rapprochement between Shas and Otzma Yehudit.
The government’s failure to pass a previous version of the Rabbis Bill significantly harmed the ultra-Orthodox parties’ trust in the government to successfully advance their interests.
Ben Gvir has a history of threatening his coalition partners to advance his political and policy goals.
In January, he threatened the stability of the coalition over open-fire rules for IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip, only a month after he had threatened to bolt the coalition over the government’s handling of the war against Hamas at the time, asserting that he would leave if the military offensive did not “continue at full strength.”
In April, he tweeted that a “reckless deal equals the dissolution of the government,” while in June, his party announced it would no longer vote with the coalition in order to force Netanyahu to disclose details of an Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
