Ben Gvir demands role of defense minister in next government, Gotliv as justice minister

Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir declared on Tuesday that his far-right party would demand the Defense Ministry for himself and the Justice Ministry for his No. 2, Tally Gotliv, at a press conference in Jerusalem unveiling his party’s platform ahead of the October 27 election.

Among policies touted by Ben Gvir were plans to “encourage” Palestinians to leave Gaza and the West Bank, immediately fire the attorney general, loosen constraints on the military and radically constrain judicial power and independence.

The sweeping platforms would hand the two prospective ministers direct authority over institutions they have spent years seeking to radically reshape: Ben Gvir through his advocacy for the removal of Palestinians and fewer constraints on the use of military force, and Gotliv, who defected from Likud earlier this month, through her campaign to weaken the judiciary and attorney general, two of the sole checks on executive power in Israel.

Ben Gvir’s security platform includes “encouraging voluntary emigration” of Palestinians, “disarming” the Palestinian Authority, while changing the IDF’s rules of engagement and ethics code, authored by philosopher Asa Kasher, which Otzma Yehudit criticizes as “progressive.”

He said he was putting himself forward for the position of defense minister because “the time has come to shift our mindset — to appoint someone from the outside who didn’t come up through the IDF chief of staff’s inner circle and is not beholden to the outdated, entrenched concepts of the past.”

Ben Gvir was never drafted into the military, having been deemed unfit to serve due to his involvement in far-right nationalistic movements as a teen.

Earlier this month, the Otzma Yehudit leader unveiled a detailed plan aimed at removing 1.86 million Palestinians — the vast majority of Gaza’s population — from the Strip within seven years through what he terms “voluntary emigration” and what is decried by critics as ethnic cleansing.

Ben Gvir said he would demand that Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf replace him in the National Security Ministry once he receives the defense portfolio.

Meanwhile, Gotliv’s envisioned justice platform calls for immediately firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara upon the formation of the next government and requiring Supreme Court nominees to undergo Knesset hearings and win approval from two-thirds of the Constitution Committee.

The government voted last year to fire Baharav-Miara but the move was annulled by the High Court.

Gotliv also proposed restricting the High Court’s powers and abolishing the judicial candidate evaluation course, which Otzma Yehudit calls a tool of the “judicial junta.”

“Right-wing voters understand that if they want me as justice minister they must vote for Otzma Yehudit,” Gotliv said in Jerusalem. “Otherwise you will get what you’ve known all along — despair, the malicious fabrication of cases against a sitting prime minister.”

“As someone who has analyzed the legal system, I am appalled by the crimes coming to light regarding the conduct of top judicial officials,” Gotliv declared. “We cannot be sold illusions when it comes to the law.”