Demand by Ben Gvir held up security cabinet meeting, delayed vote on deal

By Ariela Karmel

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9 October 2025, 9:36 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 21, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s demand to veto the release of specific Palestinian security prisoners, including convicted terrorists, is responsible for the delay of the security cabinet meeting on the ceasefire deal. It also pushed back the full cabinet’s vote to ratify the agreement, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

The security cabinet meeting ended a short while ago. The subsequent general cabinet meeting, originally set for 6 p.m., was delayed for more than three hours, further holding up the anticipated approval of the deal to bring back the remaining 48 hostages held by terror organizations in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Israel is due to release 250 Palestinian security prisoners serving life sentences, plus another 1,700 Gazans imprisoned since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that launched the war.

Unlike Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who announced earlier today that he would vote against the deal, Ben Gvir has not publicly indicated how he would vote. However, the Otzma Yehudit leader has threatened to bolt the government if Hamas “continues to exist” after the hostages are freed and left the government over a ceasefire earlier this year.