JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday he would resign from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if it ratifies the ceasefire deal in Gaza, which he has strongly opposed.
Israeli media outlets reported earlier that the cabinet was expected to vote to ratify the agreement on Friday, but there has been no confirmation from the prime minister’s office.
“The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” Ben-Gvir said in a televised statement, saying it would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian militants and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undeafeated.
“If this irresponsible deal is approved and implemented, we the members of Jewish Power will submit letters of resignation to the prime minister,” he said.
Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, this week urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.
Smotrich has described the deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners as a catastrophe for Israel but has not threatened the quit the government.
Earlier on Thursday, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party repeated its opposition, threatening to quit the government if it did not go back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire was completed.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Deepa Babington)
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