From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Ben Gvir: I rejected PM’s offer to take credit for Halevi’s ouster because he was resigning anyway
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"
Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir welcomes IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi’s announcement that he intends to resign on March 6.
“As I said, the resignation of the chief of staff was expected regardless of the course of the war, and therefore I rejected the offer of getting credit for a move he himself initiated in exchange for backing the surrender deal with Hamas,” Ben Gvir declares in a video statement.
In an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday evening after announcing that his party would bolt the coalition to protest the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, Ben Gvir said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had tried to persuade him not to resign by offering to fire Halevi and give Ben Gvir credit for the move. The Prime Minister’s Office denied his claim.
“In any case, the departure of the chief of staff should be welcomed,” he continues, expressing his hope that a more aggressive officer will be appointed to head the military.
Ben Gvir has long criticized the army chief as insufficiently tough on Hamas.
The Times of Israel Community.