Otzma Yehudit party to resign from Israeli government on Sunday

The move comes after Ben Gvir threatened to leave the government over the approval of the hostage release and ceasefire deal.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The Otzma Yehudit party, headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, said it will resign from the Israeli government on Sunday.

The move comes after Ben Gvir threatened to leave the government over the approval of the hostage release and ceasefire deal which he called “reckless.”

“The approval of the agreement with the terrorist group Hamas is a reckless decision, involving the release of hundreds of individuals responsible for the deaths of countless civilians,” Otzma Yehudit wrote in a statement.

“This agreement undermines the IDF’s hard-won achievements in the war, calls for the withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza, and effectively halts the ongoing military efforts. It amounts to nothing less than surrender to Hamas,” the statement continued.

The Otzma Yehudit ministers who are resigning are: Itamar Ben-Gvir, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Amichai Eliyahu, along with committee chairs MKs Zvika Fogel and Limor Son Har-Melech, as well as MK Yitzhak Kreuzer.

“The deal taking shape is reckless,” Ben-Gvir stated in a televised address on Thursday.

He insisted that the agreement would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and withdrawing from key areas in Gaza, ultimately leaving Hamas functional.

“This deal sends a message to Hamas that they can kidnap Israelis, attack us and in the end, they will get what they want,” he added.

Two other ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, threatened to leave the government over the hostage and ceasefire deal.

On Thursday, Smotrich and his party Religious Zionism indicated they would be willing to remain in the government and accept the first phase of the hostage release deal provided that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs a statement that Israel will resume the war against Hamas immediately after.

Although Smotrich and Chikli have not announced their resignation, they voted against the hostage deal on Friday.

Smotrich stated that his party did “everything possible to prevent a harmful deal that would jeopardize Israel’s security.”

He added, “Unfortunately, Prime Minister Netanyahu chose to approve a disastrous and harmful deal—one that threatens Israel’s national security and reverses many of the war’s accomplishments.”