Threat made good

Police minister resigns over hostage deal

Itamar Ben-Gvir can imagine returning to the government if Israel resumes the war against Hamas.(Bild: APA/AFP )

In protest against the ceasefire agreement with the Islamist Hamas, Israel's far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has resigned, according to media reports. As a result, his Otzma Yehudit party, which holds six of the 120 seats in the Knesset, is also leaving the governing coalition, as several Israeli media reported.

However, Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing religious government will not lose its majority in parliament. It still has a narrow majority of 62 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

It would only lose this if Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also far-right, were to join Ben-Gvir and also leave the government with his party. The party has seven seats.

Itamar Ben-Gvir can imagine returning to the government if Israel resumes the war against Hamas.(Bild: AFP/Debbie Hill)

Opposition pledges "safety net"
In this case, however, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid had promised the head of government a "safety net" in parliament so that he could implement the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

As part of this agreement, 33 of a total of 98 hostages held by Hamas are to be released within six weeks as a first step. In return, Israel must release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Ben-Gvir criticized hostage deal
Ben-Gvir had sharply criticized the agreement because it provides for the release of convicted murderers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The police minister warned that it was to be expected that they would carry out attacks again in the future.

Ben-Gvir had announced that he could return to the government should Israel resume the war against Hamas. This is considered a possibility after the conclusion of the first phase of the three-stage agreement, should there be no agreement on a continuation.