From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Far-right deputy minister quits role to return to Knesset to push bill to create new airport in south
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"
Deputy Minister for Artificial Intelligence Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) resigns from the government less than three months after being appointed.
The far-right politician aims to return to the Knesset in order to advance legislation to establish an airport in the southern moshav of Nevatim.
“The Deep State is mistaken in thinking that it is the sovereign, that it will determine where the airport…will be built,” he declares. “I am returning to the Knesset to bring the cross-party bill to establish an airport in Nevatim to a vote in second and third reading — [it is] a national project that will create tens of thousands of jobs and make the Negev flourish for generations.”
“Any MK — from the right or the left — who does not support the law will be held accountable to the residents of the Negev and the valley,” Cohen adds.
Cohen’s return to his old Knesset seat will push out Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot under the so-called Norwegian Law.
Following an extended period of conflict with his own Otzma Yehudit party, Cohen was appointed to a deputy ministerial position in early April so that he would resign as a lawmaker under the law, which allows a number of cabinet members and deputy ministers from each government party to resign their Knesset seats while they hold their ministerial posts.
This allowed for the return of Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot, and prevented the planned resignation of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had announced he would reclaim his own Knesset seat — pushing out Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Yitzhak Kroizer.
When Otzma Yehudit’s Amichai Eliyahu became heritage minister in 2023, Kroizer became an MK under the Norwegian Law.
Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism ran on a joint slate in the 2022 national election but subsequently split — largely due to personal disagreements between their two far-right chairmen.
When Otzma Yehudit quit the coalition in January over the government’s approval of a ceasefire-hostage release deal, Eliyahu’s resignation from the cabinet forced the ouster of Sukkot, who held a lower spot on the two parties’ joint electoral list than Kroizer.
Following Otzma Yehudit’s return to the coalition in March, none of its ministers resigned under the Norwegian Law in order to bring back Sukkot, angering Religious Zionism, which accused Otzma Yehudit of violating an agreement between the parties.
The Times of Israel Community.