Tel Aviv : Just as the ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza was about to take effect, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, pulled the plug on his government position Sunday morning, but there is a strong, similar and calculative parallel with what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did around two decades back.
A report in The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon cited a reminiscent move of Netanyahu's resignation in 2005 over a similar Gaza-related issue. "By resigning on principle, Ben-Gvir follows Netanyahu's playbook to build power," he said. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit party quit the coalition on Sunday morning, just as the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect.
In a statement, the party said that its three cabinet members -- Ben Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf -- submitted resignation letters to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu served in Ariel Sharon's government as finance minister in 2005 and quit Sharon's government on August 7, just days before the IDF began its withdrawal from the coastal strip.
"Gaza is becoming a base for Islamic terror. Everyone sees this. Hamas is getting stronger and taking credit for what looks like our running away under fire," Netanyahu had then told a press conference.
On similar lines, Ben-Gvir has argued this time that the current deal is a "surrender" to Hamas. Notably, both resignations were driven by opposition to Gaza-related decisions. Netanyahu resigned over Sharon's Disengagement plan from Gaza, warning this would create a "base of terror" within easy rocket range of Ashkelon.
Similarly, Ben-Gvir resigned his ministerial post, along with two other Otzma Yehudit ministers on Sunday, and pulled his faction out of the Knesset in protest of the hostage deal and ceasefire, saying this would unravel all the gains made so far in the Gaza war.
Both resignations occurred just before or immediately after the policies were ratified - Netanyahu's just before a cabinet vote on Disengagement, and Ben-Gvir's after the cabinet voted to endorse the hostage agreement, as per The Jerusalem Post.
Moreover, both moves aligned the resigning minister with right-wing opposition to the policies in question, strengthening their position among right-wing voters. Netanyahu used this vote to position himself as the leader of the right-wing base that viewed the withdrawal as a betrayal of Israeli security and the settlers who were being uprooted.
This resonated with the Likud rank-and-file, something that helped pave his way back to the prime minister's office in 2009.
Although Netanyahu had previously voted in favour of the Disengagement plan on several occasions, his resignation allowed him to portray his stance as principled, casting himself as a leader willing to act decisively on what he believed.
This manoeuvre solidified Netanyahu's position as the defender of right-wing values, enabling his political comeback. Similarly, the report says, Ben-Gvir is eyeing a similar dynamic though on a smaller scale. He hopes to attract voters from the Religious Zionist Party, Likud, and Shas, thereby bolstering his position in the next Knesset. While Ben-Gvir's ambitions don't extend to becoming prime minister.
Netanyahu knew his resignation would not stop the withdrawal from Gaza - just as Ben-Gvir knows he doesn't have the seats to block the current deal. But it does place Ben-Gvir in a stronger position with the hard right wing, providing a plank he can run on in the next elections - whether they are held as scheduled in October 2026 or much earlier, The Jerusalem Post report stated.
Just as Netanyahu's resignation did not immediately topple the government, neither will Ben-Gvir's or his party's decision to leave the government do it either.
First, prior to his resignation, Netanyahu voted in favour of the Disengagement on several occasions. Ben-Gvir, by contrast, has been consistent in his opposition to the current ceasefire and hostage deal.
Another difference is that Netanyahu resigned alone and did not take his party out of the coalition. That's not the case here, where Ben-Gvir is leaving with other members of his party.
Both exits destabilized coalitions but did not immediately bring down the government.
Ben-Gvir's resignation, like that of Netanyahu, follows a pattern where resigning on principle becomes a tool for greater power in the future rather than an effort to shift immediate policy. While Netanyahu may be annoyed by Ben-Gvir's gambit, he can't be too upset: after all, he did something very similar 20 years ago, Herb Keinon further wrote in his report.