Likud after Ben Gvir says he’ll quit over Gaza deal: ‘It’ll be an eternal disgrace’

After National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir says his Otzma Yehudit party will leave the coalition if the government approves the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas announced yesterday, the ruling Likud party says, “Anyone who dissolves the right-wing government will be remembered as an eternal disgrace.”

In a statement, the party denies the far-right minister’s claim that the deal constitutes an end to the war against Hamas.

“Contrary to Ben Gvir’s comments, the existing deal allows Israel to return to fighting under American guarantees, receive the weapons and means of warfare it needs, maximize the number of living hostages that will be released, maintain full control of the Philadelphi Route [on the Egyptian border] and the security buffer that surrounds the entire Gaza Strip, and achieve dramatic security achievements that will ensure Israel’s security for generations.”

The deal is expected to be approved by the security cabinet even without support from the premier’s far-right coalition partners.