Likud tells Ben Gvir if he doesn’t like way Netanyahu runs government he can leave

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of Otzma Yehudit in the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 6, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of Otzma Yehudit in the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 6, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Likud party issues a blunt statement to Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir after his party boycotts Knesset votes, telling him that if he does not like the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu runs the government he can leave the coalition.

Citing the government’s “feeble” response to the past day’s barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip, members of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party announced this morning that they would boycott Knesset votes taking place throughout the day.

“The prime minister, defense minister, the IDF, and security agencies are the ones who handle the sensitive and complete security incidents that Israel is dealing with,” Likud says.

“The prime minister is the one who decides who is a relevant participant in the discussions. If this is unacceptable to Minister Ben Gvir he does not have to remain in the government,” the statement says.

It is the latest in a series of fissures to emerge in Netanyahu’s hardline right-religious government, which has faced mounting internal pressure over its currently shelved plans to overhaul the judiciary, along with the skyrocketing cost of living and deepening conflict with the Palestinians.

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