Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 16, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Religious Zionism MK says party will likely resign from government over hostage deal
MK Zvi Sukkot at a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 18, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Religious Zionism party will likely resign from the government in protest of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, MK Zvi Sukkot tells Kan radio.
“In all likelihood, we will resign from the government,” says the far-right MK, adding that the Religious Zionism party is “here to change the DNA of the State of Israel,” not just to fill seats in the coalition.
Yesterday, party leader Bezalel Smotrich decried what he said was a “bad and dangerous deal” for Israel, and said his party would only remain in government if Israel returns to fighting “at full scale” once the hostages are released.
The governing coalition would still retain a slim majority of 61 seats if the seven Religious Zionism MKs were to resign.
