Israel: far-right ministers threaten to overthrow Netanyahu’s government if it accepts a truce with Hamas

Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, right-wing settler and leader of one of the key formations in the coalition government of Benjamin NetanyahuJewish Power, said that if the prime minister accepts the current truce proposal his party “will dissolve the Government.”

“This is a promiscuous agreement, which represents a victory for terrorism and a danger for the security of the State of Israel,” he said in a statement.

Smotrich, for his part, also a settler and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, as well as Minister of Finance, threatened to abandon the coalition if the Israeli president gives the green light to the truce scheme as proposedsince, in his opinion, it would mean the end of the war in Gaza without Hamas having been “destroyed.”

(You can read: Chile will join South Africa’s complaint against Israel at the International Court in The Hague)

The head of the opposition, the centrist Yair Lapid, reiterated this Saturday his offer to Netanyahu to support the Government if Ben Gvir and Smotrich carry out their threats, and criticized both ministers for neglecting “national security, the hostages, and the inhabitants of the north and south” of Israel.

“If it were up to them, there could be war here forever”Lapid said in a message on his X account.

Netanyahu’s office confirmed having authorized his negotiators to present a draft to Hamas, after US President Joe Biden announced the truce outline in a speech yesterday.

However, the prime minister made it clear that The war will not end until Israel achieves its military objectives, which include the total elimination of “the military and government capabilities” of Hamas in Gaza.

The Palestinian Islamist group, for its part, has indicated that it is willing to accept an exchange of the kidnapped people for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, as long as the pact leads to the end of the war in Gaza.

(Also: One by one: we explain how the three phases of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas presented by the United States would work)

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters throughout Israel, and especially in the city of Tel Aviv, demanded this Saturday that the Government accept the truce proposal, which would take place in three phases in which Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners while the Troops are gradually withdrawn from Gaza and a reconstructio
n plan is put into place.

The platform that represents the relatives of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip demanded this Saturday that the Israeli authorities approve the truce plan announced by the US president, Joe Biden.

The group, which, like every week, called for demonstrations this Saturday night to demand an agreement that would allow the hostages to be released, “in the next few hours he will contact all members of the (War) Cabinet, the Government and the Knesset (Parliament), and will demand immediate approval of the plan”according to a brief statement.

Hamas has been insisting for days that it is prepared to reach an agreement to release the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as long as Israel ends the war in Gaza, where more than 36,300 people have already died.

(You can read: Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again leads polls as the preferred candidate to govern)

At night, Thousands of protesters in several cities across the country, and especially in Tel Aviv, took to the streets to demand an agreement that would allow the hostages to be released. in addition to Netanyahu’s resignation and the call for early elections.

The organizers assured that in Tel Aviv they managed to gather around 120,000 people, which would mean that it is the largest demonstration in the country since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7.