Deepening Crisis in Israel
Deepening Crisis in Israel: Coalition leader Ofir Katz announced on Monday that due to the irresponsible behavior of the Otzma Yehudit party, none of the bills supported by the coalition will be presented in the Knesset for now.
He stated, ‘I am not willing to rely on any party other than the coalition parties. I hope conditions will be created so that the parties present in the coalition do not allow opposition parties to harm the coalition.’
On Tuesday, National Security Minister Ben Gvir, in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth news agency, referred to the crisis within the coalition and claimed that the disagreements are not about positions or government seats, but rather about war.
He said, ‘I want to be influential in the decision-making process of war, just as Netanyahu promised me a month ago.’
He added, ‘We can no longer wait for the Prime Minister to make decisions alone.’ According to Ben Gvir, Netanyahu promised him to include him in the war cabinet. He said, ‘I don’t know if you can call it a war cabinet or a kitchen or any other name.’
He promised me that I would also be involved in the decision-making.
It is not acceptable for only those who advocate for an agreement in Gaza and a ceasefire with Hamas and Hezbollah to surround the Prime Minister in the cabinet. The Israeli National Security Minister then criticized Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas party, saying his stances over the years have shown that he often makes wrong decisions.
I am not saying to remove Deri from the cabinet, but I want individuals with different thoughts to join. Ben Gvir also denied rumors about leaks from the cabinet by people close to him.
Tensions in the coalition reached their peak when the bill on hiring rabbis, supported by the Shas party, was removed from the Knesset’s agenda because Ben Gvir, the National Security Minister, announced that until Benjamin Netanyahu includes him in the war cabinet to influence important decisions, he will refrain from supporting various bills.
Just before 5 PM on Monday, Otzma Yehudit announced in a statement that its members intend to oppose the Shas bill. The political crisis the coalition is struggling with widened after the cancellation of coalition bills and disputes between representatives of the two parties. The Shas party announced that the right-wing bloc was once again halted this evening by the obstacle named Ben Gvir.
Expectations were higher, but he disappointed everyone. Ben Gvir neither has right-wing thoughts nor performs well. He has only had a shameful performance in his areas of responsibility, leading to the country’s isolation in the world.
He is like a noisy machine with zero performance. The Shas party, which is considered one of the founders of the right-wing bloc, will act as the most stable factor in the government.
With his childish and insane behavior, Ben Gvir does everything he can to dismantle the government from within, destroy the foundations of the right-wing government, and complete his honest services to left-wing parties. The Shas party further held Netanyahu responsible for these actions and announced that Shas considers Ben Gvir’s irresponsible behavior as a systematic and blatant violation of coalition commitments.
Shas is deeply disappointed with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s lack of control over coalition members.
The Otzma Yehudit party, led by Ben Gvir, also released a very strong response against Shas and its leader, stating that it has become clear that Aryeh Deri has maintained his leftist thoughts from Oslo to today. Deri has always admired leftist thoughts from Rabin and Peres to Gantz. The Shas party is the main factor pressuring the Prime Minister to adopt conciliatory policies.
Even today, Deri opposes the inclusion of Minister Ben Gvir in the war cabinet. We were not surprised by this action because while Ben Gvir tries to pressure for defeating the enemy on all fronts, Aryeh Deri is a supporter of surrender and compromise and is striving for a shameless deal that is in complete contradiction with the stance of Shas voters.
The accusations against us will never deter us. We were elected by the people to implement right-wing policies in practice and not just slogans.
We stand firm on our demand to enter the war cabinet and change the line where the concept of surrender and defeat is dictated.