Smotrich reverses resignation as PM helps patch rift among his far-right partners
Almog Cohen agrees to take deputy ministerial post, resign as MK so Religious Zionism member can rejoin Knesset after being forced out by Otzma Yehudit’s brief departure from gov’t
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appeared Wednesday to have quietly walked back his announced resignation from the government, after a crisis between two allied far-right parties was resolved with a fresh political shuffle brokered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The resolution came when Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen agreed to take an unspecified deputy ministerial position, allowing him to resign from the Knesset and allowing former Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot to take his place.
The new arrangement will allow Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer to remain in the Knesset. Smotrich’s maneuver would have seen the finance minister reclaim his Knesset seat — which would have forced Kroizer out of parliament — before swiftly rejoining the government.
A video released by the Knesset on Wednesday showed Cohen standing next to Sukkot, praising and congratulating the latter on his return to the Knesset.
In a separate video statement on Wednesday commending Cohen’s move, Netanyahu praised the Otzma Yehudit member for “saving the coalition.”
“He didn’t want to leave the Knesset. I convinced him,” Netanyahu said, adding that Cohen only did it “to ensure the stability of the government and the coalition at this historic time.”
Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism ran on a joint slate in the 2022 national election.
When Otzma Yehudit’s Amichai Eliyahu became heritage minister in 2023, Kroizer became an MK under the so-called Norwegian Law, which allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats filled by other members of their parties.
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 — and return to the Knesset — forced the ouster of Sukkot, who held a lower spot than Kroizer on the two parties’ joint electoral list.
Following Otzma Yehudit’s return to the coalition, none of its ministers resigned under the Norwegian Law so Sukkot could rejoin the Knesset, angering Religious Zionism, which accused Otzma Yehudit of violating an agreement between the parties.
Since returning to the coalition, Otzma Yehudit had been pressuring Cohen to accept a deputy ministerial position in order to get him out of the Knesset, as he consistently bucked faction discipline and continued to vote with the coalition during the party’s time in the opposition.
In a WhatsApp message to The Times of Israel last week, Cohen dismissed the idea of accepting such a role, claiming that “jobs and positions are less interesting to me.”
Responding to reports of Netanyahu’s meeting with Cohen on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid condemned the creation of “another unnecessary and fabricated political job that will cost millions at the expense of citizens who pay taxes and serve in the reserves.”
According to Channel 12, Cohen’s appointment as a deputy minister will cost taxpayers an estimated NIS 3.4 million ($918,000).
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