Far-right Israeli party to boycott Knesset votes over ‘weak response’ to Gaza clashes

The Likud transfers to Ben Gvir that “he does not have to stay” in the Government if he does not agree with Netanyahu’s decisions

3 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The far-right Israeli party Otzma Yehudit, headed by the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has announced this Wednesday that it will boycott the votes in Parliament due to the “weak response” of the Government to the latest clashes in the Gaza Strip after the death Jader Adnan, a senior Islamic Jihad official who had been on hunger strike for more than 85 days in an Israeli jail.

“Otzma Yehudit will not be present at the votes in the Knesset until it is understood and assumed that the objective of this government is to be a true right-wing government,” said Ben Gvir, who has demanded to be included in the deliberations on the matter of security.

“I say it in the most explicit way possible. If (the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu) wants us to be in the government, he must invite us to these deliberations, which has not happened in the last four months,” he said, according to what he has collected the Israeli newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.

Thus, he has stressed that if Otzma Yehudit is one of the coalition partners, “it is necessary that it be invited and, what is more important, that it have influence.” “If the prime minister wants it to be like this, we will be happy. If not, we will not go to the votes”, he has reiterated.

“If they do not want Otzma Yehudir to be in the government, they are free to dismiss us. If they do not want a true right-wing government, they can send us home,” he concluded, after the Likud previously stated that Ben Gvir can leave office if He is not happy with the Executive’s decisions.

In this sense, the Likud has maintained that “the prime minister, the defense minister, the army and the security agencies are the ones that manage the sensitive security incidents that Israel faces”.

“The prime minister of Israel decides who is a relevant participant in these discussions. If this is unacceptable for Minister Ben Gvir, he does not have to stay in the government,” he asserted, amid an increase in internal tensions around issues such as the controversial judicial reform.

Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) reached a ceasefire early Wednesday morning — mediated by the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar — after the latest exchange of fire, which resulted in the death of a Palestinian and three wounded in Israel.

After Adnan’s death, Islamic Jihad had stated that “the assassination will not go unanswered and the resistance will continue with all its strength and determination”, while Hamas – which has controlled the Palestinian enclave since 2007 – stressed that “the occupation and its Fascist government will pay the price for this crime.”

Adnan, 45, was arrested on February 5 in his town of residence, Arrabé, at which time he announced the start of a hunger strike, as he had done on previous occasions during his stays in prison. Thus, he refused to undergo medical examinations and treatments, according to Palestinian media reports.