Netanyahu May Leave... But the Legacy of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir Is Entrenched in Israel's Institutions

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced their public rejection of any government led by former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is speaking of a unity government that includes Eisenkot.

In an unusual step, Ben-Gvir said Netanyahu now faces two options: to choose himself 'to save Israel,' or to choose Eisenkot. Smotrich warned his allies in the Haredi parties against entering into negotiations with Eisenkot, saying he 'will get rid of them' after using their votes to topple Netanyahu.

The weight of the two men goes back to the coalition Netanyahu formed in 2022 with Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party and Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party. Under the agreement, Smotrich took the finance portfolio, which gave him control over the Israeli budget and over a number of institutions in the occupied West Bank, and he was also given a role as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry, while Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of incitement to terrorism, became National Security Minister.

Critics say the two ministers used their influence to push the most hardline policies, that they were among the strongest supporters of the war on Gaza, and that they repeatedly threatened to withdraw their support for the government at any sign of retreat. In September 2024, Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the government if Hamas remained in existence after the release of prisoners under the Gaza plan put forward by US President Donald Trump. The two ministers called for the annexation of Gaza and the displacement of its residents.

In June 2024, Ireland and the Netherlands imposed a travel ban on the two ministers, and other countries froze their assets. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said these measures came because of 'their desire to see the Palestinians removed from Palestine.'

Arie Perliger of the University of Massachusetts Lowell refuses to treat the two men as a single bloc. He said that 'Ben-Gvir's power is populist and performative, and opposition suits him,' while Smotrich has achieved 'bureaucratic, not rhetorical' accomplishments, and therefore 'has more to lose' if funding and control over settlement policy were cut off from him.

From his position in the Defense Ministry, Smotrich created a separate settlement administration and encouraged the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. In August 2024, he announced the revival of the 'E1' settlement plan, boasting that it would bury 'the idea of a Palestinian state.' Ben-Gvir, for his part, is accused of politicizing the Israeli police and of introducing sweeping changes to the prison service. Perliger says that 'these are personnel, procedures and facts on the ground, and reversing them requires sustained political will.'

Roy Zur of the University of Essex notes that Smotrich's movement dates back to the 1967 war, and that together with Otzma Yehudit it enjoys the support of about 10 percent of Israeli voters, adding: 'They are stable and will remain for many years.'