Netanyahu reportedly considering firing Smotrich

Channel 12 news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich from his cabinet, after the far-right politician unleashed a series of broadsides against the premier for his decisions regarding the Temple Mount and other matters.

Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, on June 24, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

According to the report, the pressure is coming from within Likud.

Among other things, Smotrich has called Netanyahu’s government “weak” and said the justice system was “stupid.”

Speaking to Kan radio Monday morning, Smotrich refused to apologize or backtrack, saying he’s not Miss Manners. His ally Ayelet Shaked has defended him and compared him to Donald Trump.

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