Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardline member of the Israeli government, threatened that the Otzma Yehudit party would withdraw from the coalition government under its prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu if the latter agrees to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
After a meeting with lawmakers from his far-right party, Ben-Gvir warned Netanyahu that accepting a temporary deal would force him to stop working with the rest of the ruling coalition and that “if the temporary truce becomes permanent, we will give up the government.”
“The most basic and understandable thing is that when the enemy is on his knees, you don’t allow him to get up, but work to defeat him,” the far-right minister emphasized.
“If a temporary suspension becomes permanent… all Otzma Yehudit ministers and deputies will resign from the government and the coalition,” he warned.
Earlier today, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key far-right ally of Netanyahu’s government, rejected the possibility of a ceasefire in hostilities between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, following an international call for a 21-day truce by, among others, the EU and the US.
Source: APE/MPE, Times of Israel