Ben Gvir reportedly threatens to back out of coalition during cabinet meeting over hostage-ceasefire deal talks

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatened to bolt the coalition during Thursday night’s security cabinet meeting after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to send a delegation to Qatar to discuss a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to quotes reported by Hebrew media.

According to the reports, Ben Gvir accused Netanyahu of holding closed-door meetings with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and security chiefs, casting the  cabinet as merely “a decoration.”

“I’m telling you prime minister, that if you make a decision alone, it is your responsibility, and you will also remain alone. I was not elected by half a million people to sit in the government while the heads of the security establishment make the decisions,” he said, the reports say.

Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel asked Ben Gvir if he was making threats, to which he replied: “I am not threatening, this is the realist. If you decide alone, don’t expect me to hold up the government afterward.”