Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that he will not grant Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir the role of either defence or national security minister if he retains power at the upcoming Knesset elections.
In an apparent snub to his far-right coalition partner, Netanyahu said that Ben-Gvir would not retain his role as national security minister, which gives him authority over policing and domestic security, and would not be appointed to head the defence department either.
Ben-Gvir has openly demanded the latter portfolio during the ongoing election campaign, which would see him handed authority over the IDF.
Such an appointment would likely be controversial, though, given his hard-line stance on the Gaza War and because he did not serve in the IDF himself, having been deemed unfit to enlist in his youth due to his public involvement in far-right movements.
At a campaign event in Acre, northern Israel, Netanyahu played down the prospect of Ben-Gvir claiming the role, saying that both the defence and education ministries would be controlled by members of his own Likud party.
He also made a similar guarantee in an interview with Army Radio when asked about the Otzma leader’s desire for the job, saying: “I know he wants it, but he doesn’t decide.”
His comments were rejected by Ben-Gvir, who told Walla: “He also said in the past that I won’t be a minister, and we saw what happened. I will get more seats, and I will be defence minister.”
He also said that, should he be given the role, he would further demand that his party’s second candidate, Tally Gotliv MK, who defected from Likud earlier this year, be appointed justice minister, with Otzma MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf replacing him on the national security brief.
Likewise, a spokesperson for Otzma Yehudit said: “Dear prime minister, only the people will decide. A strong Ben Gvir is a strong Israel!”
The party also accused Netanyahu of planning to leave it out of his next coalition should he win the election, claiming that “a decision has been made to exclude Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit from the next coalition, bring in [Yashar leader Gadi] Eisenkot instead, and hand these portfolios over to the Left.”
Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, who are neck-and-neck per the latest polls, have said they are not seeking to form a unity government with one another.
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