Ben Gvir & Smotrich threaten gov’t, opposition offers safety net as Israel advances toward another Gaza ceasefire

With reports of negotiations advancing toward a ceasefire and a final end to the Gaza War, the Israeli government is once again in turmoil as its right flank has declared its opposition to the reported terms of the potential agreement.

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, as well as the IDF’s top brass, tend toward agreeing to a hostage and ceasefire deal, even if it includes a final end to the war.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also supported a ceasefire in a post to 𝕏: “There is a large majority in the government and also the public for the framework to release the hostages. If there is a chance to do that, we must not miss it!”

However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly reached out to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Wednesday to discuss forming a unified bloc opposing the emerging deal.

The two far-right firebrands ran in a joint list during the last elections but have since fought over a range of issues and split their parties.

Both have long opposed ceasefire deals, instead advocating to continue the military operations until Hamas’ total surrender, even at the price of rescuing the hostages.

Their Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties together have 13 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, where Netanyahu’s coalition holds a 61-seat majority.

Speaking with Kan News, Ben Gvir reiterated on Thursday that he wouldn’t allow “this reckless deal to happen.”

“I hope that Smotrich will join forces with me. We were elected with 14 mandates by people who do not want us to surrender in Gaza,” he said.

“We must not stop the war without victory. What do you think will happen if we stop the war now? That Hamas will hand out flowers?”

Despite Ben Gvir’s calls, Smotrich’s spokesman said the finance minister is not cooperating with Ben Gvir: “The issue of victory in Gaza is too significant and the lives of the hostages are too precious to play a game of briefings to the media,” he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid meanwhile renewed his offer of providing Netanyahu with a “safety net” in the Knesset to ensure a majority for any agreement that would free the hostages.

“Netanyahu, against the 13 votes of Ben Gvir and Smotrich - you have my 23 fingers for a safety net for a hostage deal. We need to bring them all home now,” he wrote on 𝕏.

Yair Golan, the leader of the far-left Democrats Party, slammed Smotrich and Ben Gvir as a “pair of failed Kahanists” who are “neither Zionist nor worthy of sitting around the government table.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also criticized reports of Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s opposition to a deal, saying they had “forgotten what it means to be Jews, and the significance of the values of mutual friendship and responsibility on which the State of Israel was founded.”

“We have no other word for them this morning than ‘disgrace,'” the Forum said.