National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday after reports that Netanyahu helped broker talks between Religious Zionist Party leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Zehut Party founder and chairman Moshe Feiglin aimed at unifying the parties.
"I was stunned by reports that Smotrich and Feiglin conducted advanced negotiations for a merger with your mediation, and that only in order to 'pressure Feiglin,' you and Smotrich issued a staged call for unity with me, whose entire purpose was to lower Feiglin’s demands,” Ben-Gvir wrote.
"It is one thing to boycott events I attend and be embarrassed to be photographed with me," the minister continued, referring to the recent publicity surrounding the rediscovery of the sunken Altalena, "but even the emotional call for unity is just a cynical game?!
"Mr. Prime Minister, it is worth reminding you: my name is Itamar Ben-Gvir, not Benny Gantz," he added.
Ben-Gvir’s recent comments follow a chain of tense exchanges between the Otzma Yehudit Party leader and the prime minister in recent days.
Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir shared heated exchange over social media
On Thursday, Netanyahu urged Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to agree to run together ahead of the upcoming election in a video posted on social media.
At the beginning of the video, the interviewer asked Netanyahu, "What about Smotrich and Ben-Gvir?"
"They must unite," he replied. "Every time we ran together, we won. When we ran separately, we lost."
"I understand that there are personal grievances between them," the prime minister continued. "They need to overcome them. I will invite them in the coming days. We will make a supreme effort to unite, and this is what the public expects from them, and rightfully so."
Ben-Gvir responded to Netanyahu's claims in his own video, claiming that the prime minister wants "a small Otzma Yehudit Party so [he] can join Eisenkot to establish a 'broad national government.'"
"Only a large Otzma Yehudit, together with Smotrich and Ofer Winter running together, only in this way can a fully right-wing government be formed," Ben-Gvir said.
Ben-Gvir risking the country on ‘personal whims’ says Netanyahu
Ben-Gvir's video prompted yet another response from Netanyahu in a post on X/Twitter, in which he addressed Ben-Gvir directly, saying, “ All the polls show that if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich unite, it will create a strong party that strengthens the right-wing bloc."
"Smotrich is on the verge of the electoral threshold," Netanyahu said. "If you don't unite with him, we'll get a left-wing government of Eisenkot with Yair Golan and the Arab parties."
The prime minister also claimed that Ben-Gvir was risking the country on "personal whims."
Following this, Ben-Gvir pushed back, once again accusing Netanyahu of attempting to weaken the Otzma Yehudit Party in order to form a broad national government with Eisenkot.
He claimed that “the perfect script” would be for Winter and Smotrich to combine their parties.
“In your words, Winter doesn’t bring any votes from the undecided,” Ben-Gvir wrote.
“I will do everything so that you do not form a government with Eisenkot! Only a right-wing government!!!”
Smotrich largely stayed away from the back-and-forth, writing in a post on Twitter/X that “the time for unity and responsibility is now.”