Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and other ministers from his party will resign from the government in protest against the ceasefire agreement, Ben-Gvir announced on Saturday night.
Calling the ceasefire agreement approved by the government on Friday “reckless,” Ben-Gvir, Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev, and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Minister of National Heritage Amihai Eliyahu will submit their letters of resignation on Sunday.
It is widely expected that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will replace the three with Likud MKs on an interim basis, which would leave open the possibility of the Otzma Yehudit ministers returning, should war with Hamas resume.
Three other Otzma Yehudit MKs who chair Knesset committees will also resign their positions.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also voted against the ceasefire in Friday’s government vote, said on Saturday night he will remain in the government.
“Look at Gaza, it’s destroyed, uninhabitable, and it will stay this way,” the Religious Zionism Party leader said in a statement. He added that he was promised that no humanitarian aid would fall into the hands of Hamas.
The first phase of the ceasefire will see 33 Israeli hostages freed over a period of several days in exchange for hundreds of murderous terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The exact number will depend on how many of the 33 hostages are alive.
The most contentious aspect of the agreement is that the fate of the remaining 65 hostages will be determined by negotiations to begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Critics say the phased approach condemns hostages not freed in the beginning to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 95 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
