Said Amori
18 January 2025•Update: 19 January 2025
JERUSALEM
Israeli far-right party Jewish Power announced Saturday that it would leave the Israeli coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and that its leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, would step down as national security minister on Sunday.
In light of the approval of the "reckless" agreement with Hamas, "the Otzma Yehudit party will submit letters of resignation from the government and the coalition tomorrow morning, and ministers Ben Gvir, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amichai Eliyahu, as well as committee chairs MKs (members of Knesset) Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech, and MK Yitzhak Kroizer, will leave their positions," according to the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority, citing a statement issued by the political party.
Earlier on Thursday, Ben Gvir expressed his intention to resign as national security minister and his party to leave the coalition government if the agreement was approved.
The Israeli government approved a cease-fire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Gaza Strip late Friday during an hours-long Cabinet meeting, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.
National Security Minister Ben Gvir has reportedly attempted to persuade Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also a far-right figure, to resign with him if the deal was approved. Smotrich, however, only opposed the deal during extended government and Security Cabinet votes on Friday and early Saturday.
With the loss of Ben Gvir's Jewish Power party, Netanyahu's coalition loses six seats in parliament, or the Knesset, which is not enough to topple his administration.
The current ruling coalition comprises 68 seats from right-wing, far-right, and ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties. With the departure of Ben Gvir's party, the coalition would be reduced to 62 seats, which would still be enough to maintain its majority.
Qatar announced a three-phase ceasefire agreement late Wednesday evening to end more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, with the ceasefire set to take effect at 8.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT) on Sunday.
Nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed and more than 110,700 injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala
