The Gaza ceasefire sparked a political mutiny among far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, with ministers resigning or temporarily stepping down in protest at the agreement, raising the question of whether Netanyahu should be worried or if he can use this to his advantage. The pressure is growing, though, as the latest resignations also include military leaders.
Netanyahu’s coalition is facing turmoil over the signing and implementation of the Gaza ceasefire amid attacks from far-right ministerial incumbents, notably National Security Minister Itamar Ben- Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Ben-Gvir left the cabinet on January 19, promising to return if the Gaza war resumes “in full force.” Smotrich temporarily resigned and threatened to overthrow the government but announced on January 20 that he would return.
“We will not remain silent. The cries of our brothers’ blood call out to us. Our continued presence in the government depends on absolute certainty of resuming the war with full force—on a broad scale and with a renewed strategy—until we achieve a decisive victory, including the complete destruction of Hamas and the safe return of all hostages to their homes,” Smotrich said on January 15.
Netanyahu’s coalition holds a narrow majority in the Israeli Parliament, with 120 seats. It is led by his party, Likud, and made up of the religious and/or Zionist right-wing parties Shas, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, United Torah Judaism, the Orthodox Noam, and New Hope-United Right. Some observers fear that if new elections are held, Israeli politics could return to a cycle of instability like the one experienced between 2018 and 2022 when five lightning elections were called in a four-year period amid endless disputes between pro- and anti-Netanyahu factions in the Knesset.