Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has promised European Union countries that he will not be part of Israel's next government. Netanyahu's Likud party called the claim "false political spin."
"According to verified and confirmed information that has reached me in recent days, the Prime Minister's Office has officially pledged to a number of countries in the European Union that Ben-Gvir will not be part of the next government," Ben-Gvir told a press conference in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post reported. He said the message went to foreign ministers "or to officials at an even higher level." He offered no evidence, and the claim has not been independently confirmed.
Likud said Netanyahu "has made clear that any government will include the current coalition's base of partners, and that every Zionist party will be invited to join based on our guidelines," according to the Times of Israel. Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party is a partner in the outgoing coalition. He said Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu earlier Sunday gives the prime minister the legitimacy to form a right-wing government.
Netanyahu, laying out his security doctrine to journalists the same day, warned that Israel could face a hostile U.S. president after Trump leaves office, the Jerusalem Post reported. "There is a window of another two years with President Trump, and one of the questions in these elections is who will work with Trump? Who will complete the remaining work?" he said.
In a video on X thanking Trump, Netanyahu wrote in Hebrew that "together, in the next two years, we will complete the mission" against Iran's nuclear program. Israelis vote on Oct. 27.
Photo: Itamar Ben-Gvir (Alon Nuriel, CC BY-SA 3.0) and Benjamin Netanyahu official portrait (Avi Ohayon/GPO, CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons
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