Ben-Gvir threatens to boycott coalition if ceasefire is signed

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Thursday that his party, Otzma Yehudit, would cease cooperating with the coalition in the Knesset and government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah. Ben-Gvir added that should the temporary ceasefire become permanent, he will leave the government completely.

The statement came after an “urgent” party meeting on Thursday, which Ben-Gvir held after reports emerged that the prime minister was considering a 21-day ceasefire agreement with the Lebanese terror group. 

“The most basic and obvious thing is that when your enemy is on his knees, you do not enable him to recuperate, but act to defeat and rout him. And if you do not do so, you project weakness, endanger the security of your citizens, and prove that you have no intention to be victorious,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement.

He then said that if a temporary ceasefire is signed, Otzma Yehudit would “relieve itself of any commitment to the coalition,” including voting in the Knesset, attending government and security cabinet meetings, and any other “coalition activity.”

If the ceasefire becomes permanent, “all ministers and MKs from Otzma Yehudit will resign from the government and coalition,” Ben-Gvir said.

The threat was a tactic that Ben-Gvir had used a number of times since the government’s formation in late 2022. In nearly all cases, the tactic has worked. The most recent use was in June when he threatened to quit the government if Netanyahu agreed to a “reckless” hostage deal.

Sunday's plenum session

The threat came at an important parliamentary moment, as the Knesset plenum is scheduled to convene on Sunday for a day of voting to approve an amendment to the 2024 budget. The coalition currently enjoys a 64-56 majority, but without Ben-Gvir’s six MKs, the coalition will have to work harder to ensure that the bill passes.

Sunday’s plenum session was scheduled after the Knesset Finance Committee on Tuesday approved the amendment for its second and third readings. The amendment, which is the second of the 2024 budget after an initial amendment was approved in March, will expand 2024 government spending by approximately NIS 3.4 billion in order to continue to provide aid to evacuees and handle other impacts of the war. Finance Ministry officials explained that the amendment was necessary since the war had extended beyond initial estimates, which were that the war would end in mid-2024.

Members of the opposition have argued that the amendment is unnecessary and that the necessary funds can be procured within the framework of the existing budget by shutting down government ministries and cutting coalition funding.

Ministers and Knesset members from both the coalition and opposition denounced reported ceasefire talks between Israel and Hezbollah on Thursday morning and advocated instead to continue the offensive.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) wrote on X that the conflict in the North needed to end with “one scenario – crushing Hezbollah and removing its ability to harm the residents of the North.” Smotrich wrote that Israel “cannot give the enemy time to recuperate” and reorganize.

Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) wrote on X that Israel “cannot stop now,” since the conflict in the North cannot be completed without a ground operation “to create a buffer zone and redeploy our forces in order to remove the threat of an invasion of the Galilee and a repetition of the evacuation of towns in a future conflict.”

Another minister who expressed opposition to the talks was National Missions Minister Orit Strok (RZP).

Opposition MK Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the United Right party, wrote on X that Israel’s “moderation of air force attacks in Lebanon in recent days and avoiding attacks to remove Hezbollah’s capabilities in Beirut” were mistakes. According to Sa’ar, “continuous and methodological” military activity was “crucial” in order to “destroy Hezbollah’s main capabilities and its ability to threaten the home front.”

“Avoiding this enables Hezbollah to conduct actions that will increase the mission’s burden later on,” Sa’ar wrote. Two other MKs from his party, Ze’ev Elkin and Sharen Haskel, shared similar opinions on X as well.