Smotrich said to consult rabbis on leaving coalition over proposed hostage-ceasefire deal
Netanyahu to meet Ben Gvir in attempt to dissuade him from resigning; will reportedly show him full draft of agreement said to prove Israel not required to end war against Hamas
Following threats from hardline members of his coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday to dissuade him from bringing down the government over a proposed hostage release and ceasefire deal, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was reported to have held consultations of his own on the matter with religious leaders.
The Kan public broadcaster reported on Monday that over the last day, Smotrich held discussions with several rabbis affiliated with his Religious Zionism party to discuss the party’s future in Netanyahu’s government should the hostage deal announced by US President Joe Biden late last week come to fruition.
According to the report, Smotrich is weighing the option of withdrawing his party from the government even before the deal is finalized, if he sees that it is progressing in that direction.
In a speech on Friday night, Biden revealed what he said was a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal submitted on Thursday to Hamas via Qatar, and laid out some of its key elements.
The offer would “bring all the hostages home, ensure Israel’s security, create a better day after in Gaza without Hamas in power, and set the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Biden said, although he did not specify how Hamas would be removed from power.
On Saturday night, Smotrich said he had informed Netanyahu that he would resign from government should the proposal be accepted. Ben Gvir issued a similar warning, threatening to “dismantle the government” if it was adopted.
To that end, Netanyahu will reportedly meet with Ben Gvir on Monday to present him with the blueprint of the hostage deal and ceasefire proposal to counteract his accusation that the deal would mean the end of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Quoting an anonymous source in the Prime Minister’s Office, Hebrew-language media reported that Netanyahu planned to show him that contrary to Biden’s remarks, the draft does not have a clause obligating Israel to end the fighting.
Netanyahu will show him that it is not an “irresponsible deal,” the source said, after Ben Gvir accused Netanyahu on Sunday of agreeing to a deal that would ensure Israel’s “total defeat” rather than the victory he has repeatedly promised.
Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir have issued similar threats in the past, whenever Israel and Hamas seem close to reaching a deal.
In January, Ben Gvir threatened to topple the government over a deal that Israel was rumored to be considering, leading Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to say his party would serve as a “safety net for the government” should this happen, an offer he again repeated on Monday.
Smotrich, in April, appeared to warn he would bolt the coalition over another failed attempt at securing an agreement, which looked promising at the time.
He warned then that the reported deal was “disastrous” and would constitute “the surrender of the State of Israel.”
And while neither official brought down the government over the weeklong truce in late November that saw the release of 105 hostages, Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party voted against it.
The remaining members of the governing coalition have yet to see the latest draft proposal, as unlike in previous rounds of negotiations, it was not presented to the security cabinet ahead of its submission to mediators, for fear of it being leaked to the public too early, Kan reported.
While some lawmakers have already said they will not support the deal based on the partial overview delivered by Biden, others have reportedly informed family members of hostages that they intend to back it.
As part of their efforts to rally support for the deal, the family of Yagev Buchshtav, who was taken hostage from his home on Kibbutz Nirim on October 7, met with several lawmakers on Monday, including Likud MK Gila Gamliel.
They later said that Gamliel had expressed her intention to support the deal if it is brought to a vote.
