National Security Minister and head of the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben Gvir rejects the newly proposed hostage release and ceasefire deal, and says that he will “dismantle the government” if it is adopted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In rejecting the proposal, Ben Gvir joins his ultranationalist government comrade Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in warning Netanyahu that his government will fall if it accepts the proposed deal.
Unlike Smotrich, Ben Gvir does not mention returning the hostages as part of his war aims.
“The deal according to the details which have been published today would mean ending the war and giving up on destroying Hamas. This is a reckless deal which would be a victory for terrorism and a security risk for the State of Israel,” says Ben Gvir, adding that it would represent not total victory, as Netanyahu has repeatedly promised, but rather “total defeat.”
Ben Gvir says his party will not allow the war to end in this way.
“If the prime minister puts this deal into action under the conditions that have been published today, the meaning of which is the end of the war and abandoning [the goal of] destroying Hamas, Otzma Yehudit will dismantle the government,” declares the far-right minister.
