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Jewish Home party furious over firing of deputy defense minister

The Jewish Home Party expressed anger after one of their members, MK Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, was not reappointed as deputy minister of defense.

By World Israel News Staff

The Jewish Home Party expressed anger after one of their members, MK Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, was not reappointed as deputy minister of defense.

The Jewish Home Party requested of Netanyahu that he reappoint MK Ben-Dahan to the post as his tenure would automatically expire with the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.

Netanyahu promised to bring up the matter at the Cabinet meeting Sunday but failed to do so, Israel’s Channel 2 news reports.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who received the defense portfolio with the resignation of Minister Liberman, did not reappoint Jewish Home MK Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan to the position of deputy defense minister, Channel 2 reported.

The Jewish Home Party says Netanyahu refused to reappoint Ben-Dahan to purposefully “humiliate” the party.  However, Netanyahu’s associates denied the reports, Channel 2 says.

The Jewish Home Party said, “The maltreatment by the prime minister’s associates of the Jewish Home Party, this time by firing Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, is unfair act and an injustice to an honest and ethical public servant. The prime minister wouldn’t behave this way to any other party. We are talking about an excellent deputy minister whose staff will lose their work immediately. We are calling on the prime minister to reverse his decision.”

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Ben-Dahan wrote on Facebook, “The political crisis caught me in the midst of important work on many projects, for reservists, disabled IDF veterans, residents of Judea and Samaria and many other matters.

“We are talking about part of the coalition agreement, and my continued activities at the defense ministry do not relate to the future of the coalition, as they do not relate to the work of the other ministers. It is possible to implement the technical process with mere approval by telephone. I am sure that everything will be straightened out, and decency will overcome all other considerations.”

The Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying that Ben-Dahan’s reconfirmation would be addressed in the near future. “The matter will be dealt with in the next few days,” the statement read.

On Wednesday, the Jewish Home Party voted unanimously on a resolution demanding that Netanyahu appoint their party chairman, Naftali Bennett, as minister of defense.