Just days before the election, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced Sunday he will deliver a “very important” political statement at 6:10 p.m., as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifies that the Defense Ministry will remain in Likud’s hands.
Netanyahu’s clarification came after Ben-Gvir demanded the coveted Defense Ministry portfolio. When he was rebuffed in the media, the Jewish Power party claimed: “The prime minister’s statements, according to which the Defense Ministry, the National Security Ministry, and the Justice Ministry will all remain in Likud’s hands, reinforce the conclusion that a decision has been made to remove Minister Ben-Gvir and Jewish Power from the coalition, to bring in Eisenkot in his place, and to hand these portfolios to the left.”
In an interview with Channel 14, when Ben-Gvir was asked what he would do if Netanyahu decides to keep the Defense Ministry with Likud, he responded: “It depends less on Netanyahu and more on the public. The public needs to have its say. If the public wants me and Netanyahu together, strong, if the public wants me to be defense minister in Netanyahu’s government, they need to vote for me en masse. If they vote for me en masse, I assume Netanyahu will give me that position.”
According to him, “He decided at the time that I wouldn’t be national security minister. He decided I wouldn’t be a minister. At the time, before the previous elections, he went and told Yonit Levy that he wouldn’t let Itamar Ben-Gvir be a minister. And he also said I would be a member of the coalition, but he wouldn’t give me the position of national security minister. And then time passed, the public voted for me, and he ultimately gave it to me.”