MK Gotliev attacks Netanyahu over Ben-Gvir portfolio demand

MK Tally Gotliv (Otzma Yehudit) launched a sharp attack Thursday evening against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following his remarks at a conference in Akko that in the next government, should he form it, the Defense Ministry, the National Security Ministry and the Justice Ministry will remain in Likud hands.

The statement comes against the backdrop of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's declaration that he intends to demand the Defense portfolio in the next government. Ben-Gvir presented his party's demands at the end of September, with himself slated for Defense Minister, Gotliv for Justice Minister, and Minister Yitzchak Wasserlauf for National Security Minister.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I was told many times that you love submissive yes-men who bow to your authority. I defended you and said that a strong person wants strong people around him. Well, they were right," Gotliv wrote in a sharp post.

"Today you proved that the best minister in your government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who delivered victory images for the right-wing bloc, you want to push aside," sheb continued. "The National Security Minister who carried out a massive prison reform that you didn't do for years, the minister who demolished thousands of illegal buildings in the Negev, the minister who reformed weapons licensing for citizens' personal security, the minister who dramatically raised the salaries of police officers and prison guards, the minister who said and did, promised and delivered --- him you want to push aside??"

Ben-Gvir and Gotliev (Photo: Tzafrir Abayov/Flash90, Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

"What happened, Mr. Prime Minister, what are you afraid of? Do you recognize a leader and are trying to distance him??" she asked in her post.

She turned to right-wing voters with a call: "Know that only a strong Otzma Yehudit will keep Netanyahu on the right, and only a strong Otzma Yehudit will lead to transferring the Defense, National Security and Justice portfolios to Otzma Yehudit. Otherwise you'll get Chaim Katz and Eisenkot and more of the same nothing."

Otzma Yehudit as a party also responded sharply to the Prime Minister's remarks. "The cat is out of the bag: the Prime Minister's statements, according to which the Defense Ministry, the National Security Ministry and the Justice Ministry will all remain in Likud hands, strengthen the conclusion that a decision has been made to remove Minister Ben-Gvir and Otzma Yehudit from the coalition, to bring in Eisenkot in their place, and to hand these portfolios to the left," the party said in a statement.

At the end of September, Ben-Gvir held a press conference in which he presented his party's demands for the next government. "I will ask to be Defense Minister in the next government. Tally Gotliv will be Justice Minister," Ben-Gvir said, requesting to move from the National Security Ministry to the Defense Ministry, while Wasserlauf would receive the National Security Ministry.