Ben-Gvir threatens coalition after spat with haredi parties

Far-right National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Monday that his party would no longer adhere to coalition discipline and would vote in the Knesset as it sees fit, after the two ultra-Orthodox (haredi) parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), refused to support a move that would give him broader powers to enforce construction violations.

The seemingly inconsequential spat touched on simmering political tensions on additional issues such as the haredi exemption from military service, and provided a glimpse into political wheeling and dealing occurring behind the scenes

The plenum was scheduled on Monday to approve Ben-Gvir’s takeover of the National Unit for Enforcing Planning and Construction Laws. The unit was formed in 2017 as part of the Kamenetz Law, the purpose of which was to tighten enforcement of illegal construction, especially in the Arab sector.

The unit, which has the authority to hand out fines and other sanctions for construction violators, has been under the auspices of the Finance Ministry. However, the Likud agreed, in coalition agreements signed in November 2022, that the unit would move to Ben-Gvir’s ministry.

Ben-Gvir has promoted stricter enforcement against construction violations, especially among Bedouin nomad communities in the South, and having the unit under his auspices will give him more power over it.

However, Ben-Gvir announced on Monday that the haredim were unwilling to support the move, and therefore the coalition did not have a majority for it to pass. According to Ben-Gvir, the reason the haredim opposed the move was that they had made a deal with the Knesset’s two Arab parties.

The deal was that the haredi parties would agree to block Ben-Gvir’s move in exchange for support from the Arab parties on a future bill to regulate haredi conscription to the IDF. The Arab parties strongly oppose the Kamenetz Law and argue that it is discriminatory towards Israeli Arabs, who are forced to build illegally due to insufficient urban planning by the state in Arab cities and towns.

The haredi parties are seeking to pass a new law to enable as many yeshiva students as possible to remain exempt from IDF service, after the law that granted them a blanket exemption expired.

Sources from both the haredi and Arab parties denied Ben-Gvir’s claim. The haredi and Arab parties have collaborated in the past on the issue of laws providing an exemption from IDF service, but this time that was not the case, the sources said. Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi called Ben-Gvir a liar, saying in a speech in the plenum that even though the

Arab parties supported the haredi exemption, they would vote against such a bill to bring down the government if their votes were the deciding factor. A source from UTJ confirmed that there was no deal between the two groups.

Following the October 7 Hamas massacre and ensuing war, the haredi constituency will no longer accept cooperation with the Israeli Arab parties, the source said.

Ben-Gvir reportedly blocked "kosher cellphone" bill

The reason the haredi parties were blocking Ben-Gvir’s move was different, the source said. According to the source, Ben-Gvir was delaying the passage of a bill known as the “kosher cellphone” bill that is very important to the haredi parties, according to which specified haredi committees will be given control of allocating cellphone numbers to their communities that are designated as “kosher phones” without internet access. Former Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel blocked the option during the previous government’s tenure, arguing that it violated haredi people’s freedom to use their phones as they saw fit.

The haredi parties want to return the option of these “cellular committees.” However, much of the kosher cellphone business is currently controlled by the Chabad Hasidic group. Ben-Gvir is courting Chabad voters and wants to win their favor, and the law would wrest control of the kosher cellphones away from them. That is the real reason Ben-Gvir was delaying the kosher cellphone law, and why the haredim opposed Ben-Gvir’s move to take over the National Unit for Enforcing Planning and Construction Laws.

A spokesperson for Ben-Gvir denied the claim, arguing that the reason he opposed the kosher cellphone law was that he believed that whoever wants to form a “cellular committee” should be able to do so, instead of having one central committee.

Shas Religious Affairs Minister Michel Malkieli filibustered on the Knesset dais for approximately an hour while the sides tried to work out their differences behind the scenes, but this was unsuccessful, and the vote to move the National Unit for Enforcing Planning and Construction Laws to Ben-Gvir’s ministry was removed from the agenda. The Knesset is currently in recess and sessions are rarely held, and only after receiving special approval, and it is unclear when the next vote on the matter will occur.