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Itamar Ben-Gvir leaves Israeli Knesset over hostage deal – Israel News
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members from his Otzma Yehudit party submitted resignation letters from the government and coalition on Sunday, as they had previously promised if the deal was approved.
“The reckless approval of an agreement with the Hamas terror organization, which includes releasing hundreds of murderers with the blood of men, women, and children on their hands – some to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria – represents a disgraceful surrender,” the party stated. “This deal forfeits the IDF’s hard-won achievements in the war, involves withdrawing forces from Gaza, and halts the fighting in a manner that capitulates to Hamas.”In his official resignation letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir expressed his “personal appreciation” for the prime minister, and claimed that the government had done “wonderful things.” Ben-Gvir, however, repeated a previous promise that while the party will vote based on its “ideology and conscience” from here on out, it would not support a vote to bring down the government.
Otzma Yehudit ministers Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Negev and Galilee Minister) and Amichai Eliyahu (Heritage Minister) also submitted their resignation letters on Sunday morning. According to law, the letters will come into effect in 48 hours.
The Otzma Yehudit MKs who are not ministers – Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech, and Yitzhak Kreuzer – will also leave their parliamentary positions, Ben-Gvir said. Fogel was the chairman of the Knesset National Security Committee, and Kreuzer was a member of the Judicial Selection Committee. It is unclear who will replace them.
MK Almog Cohen, who was also elected to the Knesset as part of the Otzma Yehudit party, fell out with his party and is likely to act independently.
Ben-Gvir has threatened to leave the government if the deal were to be approved as early as last week.
“The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” Ben-Gvir said in a televised statement on Thursday. He said the deal would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
Other MKs threaten to resign
Four other ministers – three from the Religious Zionist Party (Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Missions Minister Orit Strock, and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer), and one from Likud (Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli) – previously threatened to leave the government if a permanent ceasefire was implemented.
In addition to the three ministers from Otzma Yehudit, the three from RZP, and Chikli, Regional Cooperation Minister Dudi Amsalem also voted against the deal in the deciding vote in the government late Friday night.
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