Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit leaves coalition over approval of hostage-ceasefire deal

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 holds a press conference together with members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party in Jerusalem, January 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds a press conference together with members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party in Jerusalem, January 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party leaves the coalition, following through on its threat to bolt if Israel agrees to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Three ministers — National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf — all submit their resignation letters to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and “from this time onwards the Otzma Yehudit party is not a member of the coalition,” the party says in a statement.

Writing to Netanyahu, Otzma Yehudit chairman Ben Gvir boasts of his “significant achievements under your leadership” but complains of what he says is the prime minister’s “surrender-to-terror deal, which crosses all ideological red lines.”

The ceasefire constitutes “a complete victory for terrorism,” Ben Gvir declares, adding that “we do not intend to work to overthrow the government led by you, but on ideological issues we will vote according to our outlook and our conscience.”

“We will not return to the government table without a complete victory against Hamas and the full realization of the war’s goals,” he adds.

The party’s statement also says that MKs Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kroizer “submitted letters of resignation from their positions on the various committees to the coalition chairman.”

The statement does not mention Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen, who has broken with his party to vote with the coalition several times in recent weeks, leaving his current status unclear.

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