Deepening Crisis in Israel
The head of the coalition, Ofer Cass, announced on Tuesday that due to the irresponsible behavior of the Otzma Yehudit party, none of the coalition-supported bills are currently being discussed in the Knesset.
He stated, ‘I am not willing to rely on any party other than the coalition parties. I hope conditions will allow coalition parties to prevent opposition parties from harming the coalition.’
On Wednesday, Minister of National Security Bengovir referred to this crisis within the coalition in an interview with the Yedioth Ahronoth news agency, claiming that the disagreement is not about positions or government seats but about war.
‘I want to be influential in the decision-making process of war, as Netanyahu promised me a month ago,’ he said.
Bengovir stated that he could no longer wait for the Prime Minister to make decisions alone. Netanyahu promised him to bring him into the war cabinet. He said, ‘I don’t know if you can call it a war cabinet, a kitchen cabinet, or any other name.’
He promised me to be involved in the decision-making process as well.
Not only those who seek an agreement in Gaza and a ceasefire with Hamas and Hezbollah should surround the Prime Minister’s cabinet, Israel’s Minister of National Security then criticized Aryeh Deri, the leader of the Shas party, saying that his positions over the years have shown that he often makes wrong decisions.
I’m not saying to remove Deri from the cabinet, but I want individuals with more diverse thinking to enter. Bennett also dismissed rumors about leaks of information from within the cabinet by people close to him.
Tensions within the coalition peaked when the Chief Rabbinate employment law, supported by the Shas party, was removed from the Knesset’s agenda because Minister Bennett stated that as long as Benjamin Netanyahu does not bring me into the war cabinet, I will not influence important decisions and will oppose support for various bills.
It was just before five o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday when Otzma Yehudit announced in a statement that members of the party intend to oppose the Shas Law. The political crisis, exacerbated by the cancellation of coalition bills and the dispute between representatives of the two major parties, has further widened. Shas Party declared that the right-wing bloc was once again halted this evening by the hands of Benguir.
Expectations from him were higher, but he disappointed everyone. Benguir lacks both right-wing ideologies and good performance. The only shameful performance he had during this time has led the country to isolation in the world.
He is like a noisy machine with zero performance. Shas Party, considered one of the founders of the right-wing bloc, will act as the most stable element in the government.
Benguir, with his childish and insane behavior, does anything to destroy the government from within, demolish the foundations of the right-wing government, and complete his sincere services to left-wing parties. Shas Party continued to hold Netanyahu responsible for these actions and stated that Shas considers Minister Benguir’s irresponsible behavior a systematic and blatant violation of coalition commitments.
Shas deeply disappointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s lack of control over coalition members.
The Jewish Home party led by Bennett also strongly responded against Shas and its leader, revealing that Aryeh Deri has maintained his leftist thoughts in Oslo until today. Deri has always admired left-wing ideologies, from Rabin and Peres to Gantz. Shas party is the main factor pressuring the Prime Minister to adopt conciliatory policies.
Even today, Deri opposes the addition of Minister Bennett to the cabinet. We were not surprised by this move, as while Bennett tries to exert pressure to defeat the enemy on all fronts, Deri is in favor of surrender and compromise, striving for a shameless deal that is completely contrary to the position 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 we will not give up our slogan.
We stand by our demand to enter the war cabinet and reject the linear change dictated by the concepts of surrender and defeat.
