Ben Gvir says Netanyahu pledged to exclude him from next government as election nears

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of promising European officials that he would keep Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party out of his coalition if he wins reelection next week.

With just over a week until Israelis head to the polls on October 27, parties across the political spectrum are working to secure enough support amid tensions over potential coalition partners, efforts to prevent wasted votes, and accusations of misleading election advertising.

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Ben Gvir said he had “received information about messages” from Netanyahu’s office making such a pledge. His Otzma Yehudit party is a partner in Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition.

0:00 / 0:00

Promoted: JPPI, Bret Stephens 

“The Prime Minister’s Office has committed to countries in the European Union — whether to foreign ministers or a higher rank — that Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit will not be in the next government,” Ben Gvir said.

“I was in shock. I didn’t understand where it came from,” Ben Gvir added.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories

By signing up, you agree to the terms

He said that people in Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party told him that the premier, who’s the son of a historian, is driven by historic sensitivities that make him want “to finish the term in consensus” — indicating that he could reach out to opposition parties to form a government.

Most of the opposition parties have indicated they would refuse to sit with Netanyahu.

“Mr. Prime Minister — don’t waste the effort. Don’t count on the left in Israel,” Ben Gvir said.

Likud responded in a statement that “Ben Gvir is continuing with the false political spin,” and that Netanyahu “has made clear that any government will include the current coalition’s base of partners, and that every Zionist party will be invited to join based on our guidelines.”

This exchange came after Netanyahu said last week at a campaign event that Ben Gvir would not retain the National Security Ministry or receive the defense minister position — one he has openly sought — if he forms the next government.

Netanyahu’s comments drew an angry response from Otzma Yehudit, which accused Netanyahu of planning to keep the party out of a possible next coalition and instead form a government with Netanyahu’s top rival, Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot.

In another challenge for Otzma Yehudit, former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the son of Shas party founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, wrote a letter prohibiting support for the party because Ben Gvir, its chair, has ascended the Temple Mount.

Ben Gvir and others on the far right have called for the abolition of restrictions on Jewish prayer at the mount, Judaism’s holiest site, which Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuary. An Islamic body administers it.

Haredi leaders have long said ascending the mount is forbidden for Jews because it violates Jewish law.

“All of the great sages across generations, without exception, forbade this to the utmost extent,” Yosef wrote in a letter published by Hebrew media. He added that those who encourage ascending the mount also run afoul of the prohibition, and therefore “it is forbidden according to Jewish law to support this party.”

The letter came as Otzma Yehudit competes with Shas for overlapping pools of religious, right-wing voters.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is pushing for the newly formed ultra-Orthodox Charedi Public party to suspend its campaign ahead of the October 27 election, Channel 12 reported. The prime minister was joined in the effort by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chair of the far-right Religious Zionism party.

They reportedly want the Haredi party to drop out of the race because they fear it will not cross the 3.25% electoral threshold to enter the Knesset. In that case, those votes would not count towards seats and instead would go to waste, without potentially going to pro-Netanyahu factions.

No poll has shown the party winning enough votes to enter the Knesset.

“We do not have the privilege of stepping away. We cannot step away. We have a large public that we will represent,” Channel 12 quoted a party statement as saying.  The party claimed its vote outcome will be the “surprise of the election.”

The Charedi Public party, led by Moti Leitner, has relatively moderate stances on ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces, education and employment.

According to Channel 12’s report, Leitner wants to be a member of Knesset or a government minister, but Netanyahu and Smotrich are presenting other offers, unspecified in the reporting.

Another party dealing with reported efforts to affect its outcome in the election is Ra’am, the conservative largely Arab-Muslim party. It has accused right-wing operatives of orchestrating a fake election campaign featuring billboards depicting party chairman Mansour Abbas and Yoav Segalovitz, the No. 2 candidate on its electoral slate, alongside an Israeli flag and a Pride flag.

The billboards, which have appeared primarily in central Israel in recent days, according to Hebrew media reports, feature the Hebrew slogan “The New Israeli Story” and the Arabic phrase “Together We Will Bring Change,” giving the impression that they are part of Ra’am’s official campaign.

The advertisements do not identify who funded them, in apparent violation of election campaign laws, which require campaign materials to disclose the identity and contact details of the person who commissioned them.

Ra’am, which has Islamist roots and has historically appealed to socially conservative voters, has not historically supported LGBTQ rights.

It said the campaign is intended to damage the party’s image among voters and promote the interests of right-wing parties, according to Haaretz.

The party stressed that it is responsible only for official campaign materials bearing its logo, claiming that the effort reflects the right wing’s fear that Ra’am and other parties seeking to oust Netanyahu’s government could secure a majority in the Knesset.

Ra’am said it “has confidence in the awareness of the Arab public and its ability to confront the smears,” urging voters to turn out in large numbers on October 27 “to bring down the racist and extremist right-wing coalition and establish a new government of change, in which Ra’am will be a partner and wield influence for the benefit of Arab society.”

Help us report truthfully on social media

As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.

This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. 

If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.

— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist

Support our work Support our work Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this