Israel far-right ministers threaten to quit if Biden ceasefire plan goes ahead

JERUSALEM - Two far-right Israeli ministers threatened on June 1 to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau’s government if he goes ahead with a hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

Mr Biden said on May 31 that

Israel had offered a new roadmap towards a full ceasefire

including the release of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

But Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said they would quit his government if the deal went ahead.

Mr Ben Gvir said his party would “dissolve the government” if the deal went through and slammed the proposal as “a victory for terrorism and a security risk to the State of Israel”.

“Agreeing to such a deal is not total victory – but total defeat,” he said.

Mr Smotrich said he would “not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed outline”.

“We demand the continuation of the war until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages return,” Mr Smotrich said on X, adding that he opposes the return of displaced Gazans to the territory’s north and the “wholesale release of terrorists”.

Earlier on June 1, Mr Netanyahu insisted that

the destruction of Hamas was part of the Israeli plan

laid out by Mr Biden.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid vowed to offer Mr Netanyahu “our safety net for a hostage deal if Ben Gvir and Smotrich leave the government”.

Without Mr Ben Gvir’s and Mr Smotrich’s parties, Mr Netanyahu’s coalition could lose its majority in parliament.

Thousands of Israelis, meanwhile,

rallied in Tel Aviv to demand acceptance of the ceasefire and hostage release deal

outlined by Mr Biden, with many fearing the premier would disown the proposal.

“I hope that somehow Biden puts enough pressure so the government and Netanyahu will take the deal,” protester Diti Kapuano, 46, told AFP.

The Gaza war was sparked by

Hamas’ unprecedented Oct 7 attack

on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

At least 36,379 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive since Oct 7, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run territory. AFP