A bitter political battle erupted Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, with the two parties trading unusually sharp accusations over who Netanyahu intends to include in a future government.
The confrontation follows a report by Ynet claiming Netanyahu recently sought to reassure Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit No. 2 MK Tally Gotliv that he would not replace them with parties from outside the current right-wing bloc if he forms the next government.
Otzma Yehudit flatly denied the report.
“The report about a conversation between the prime minister and Minister Ben Gvir and MK Tally Gotliv, in which the prime minister supposedly calmed concerns that Otzma Yehudit would not be included in the next coalition, is completely fake news,” the party said.
“No conversation has taken place in recent weeks between Minister Ben Gvir and the prime minister, nor were any such messages sent.”
The party instead claimed that the opposite is taking place, pointing to reports that Netanyahu’s office has privately conveyed messages to foreign governments indicating that Otzma Yehudit would not be part of the next government.
Otzma Yehudit said those reports, combined with Likud messaging about establishing a broader unity government, have fueled suspicions that Netanyahu could seek to form a coalition with Gadi Eisenkot while leaving Ben Gvir outside.
Likud responded with a blistering statement of its own.
“Ben Gvir — enough with the bluff,” Likud said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has already made clear many times that he will establish the next government based on the existing parties of the national camp.”
“Instead of your attacks on Likud, we recommend that you focus on preventing the establishment of a left-wing government of Eisenkot with Yair Golan, Liberman and the Arab parties,” Likud added.
Otzma Yehudit fired back almost immediately.
“The thief’s hat is burning on his head,” the party said, using a Hebrew expression roughly equivalent to saying that a guilty party is revealing himself through his reaction.
Otzma Yehudit accused Netanyahu’s office of playing a double game — privately signaling abroad that Ben Gvir will not serve in the next government while publicly issuing statements suggesting that the existing right-wing coalition will remain intact.
The party called that conduct “a profound disrespect for right-wing voters.”
“Unfortunately, the fact is that Netanyahu wants Eisenkot in the next government instead of Ben Gvir — the same Eisenkot who signed a surplus-vote agreement with Yair Golan,” Otzma Yehudit charged.
“Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot denies this. It is time for Netanyahu to publicly commit that he will not sit with Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan.”
The latest clash comes amid an increasingly fierce competition between Likud and Otzma Yehudit for right-wing voters ahead of Israel’s October 27 election. Ben Gvir has repeatedly warned supporters that a strong Likud could ultimately produce a broader coalition without Otzma Yehudit, while Netanyahu has been working to prevent fragmentation of the right-wing vote.
The dispute has been building for weeks. Netanyahu previously pushed Ben Gvir to run together with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, arguing that right-wing votes could otherwise be wasted. Ben Gvir categorically rejected that proposal, insisting that Otzma Yehudit will run independently and suggesting instead that Netanyahu reserve a spot for Smotrich on the Likud slate.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
