Smotrich slams Ben-Gvir: Israeli police ‘have completely failed’
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In a significant development highlighting deepening divisions within Israeli political circles, a heated war of words has erupted between the far-right allies.
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In this photo taken on November 15, 2022, then-Knesset members Itamar Ben-Gvir (L) and Bezalel Smotrich look on during the swearing-in ceremony for Israeli lawmakers in al-Quds. (AP)
The schism within the Israeli government deepened as a war of words erupted between Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. On Sunday, Ben-Gvir called on his electoral ally Smotrich to refrain from personal attacks. This plea came after Smotrich, a fellow far-right cabinet member, accused Ben-Gvir of "failing to curb violence in the Arab Israeli community."
Speaking at a conference co-sponsored by the national-religious Makor Rishon newspaper and the Jerusalem College of Technology, Smotrich alleged that Iran is trying to destabilize "Israel" by flooding Arab communities with "hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons." He also criticized the authorities, stating that they are "far from doing what is necessary to neutralize this risk in advance."
“In this matter, the police and the one who is entrusted with this have completely failed,” he confirmed, quarreling that the matter “is not solved by weapons for the security squads”-- a key policy move overseen by Ben-Gvir.
“When all of our children are united at the front, we must be united and not be dragged into personal attacks,” Ben-Gvir replied to Smotrich in a statement. “The left are rubbing their hands together in glee because of the finance minister’s words.”
“Despite the attacks from the left and, unfortunately, also from our partners, we will continue with the project of the security squads” and the distribution of weapons to settlers, referring to the approval of over 100,000 gun licenses since October 7.
Allies turned to enemies
In addition to bashing Ben-Gvir, Smotrich defended the government’s decision to legalize several West Bank outposts and impose sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. He explained that his actions were aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, which he argued would pose "an immediate, existential danger to the State of Israel."
"The Iranian regime has an orderly plan for the conventional destruction of the State of Israel,” he claimed, stressing that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would “multiply Gaza 20 times and place it in an area that topographically and geographically dominates the entire State of Israel."
“The Arabs of the West Bank can, God forbid, turn Kfar Saba into Kfar Aza, Ra’anana into Be’eri, Netanya into Nahal Oz, and Tel Aviv into Sderot within hours,” Smotrich added, bashing politicians like Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, who he alleged are urging for the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip.
Is 'Israel' heading toward civil war?
Following the embarrassment of October 7, old disputes began to emerge across different sectors of Israeli public institutions, the security apparatus, the military apparatus, the Israeli coalition government, and most recently between allies.
Headlining these squabbles are issues on security and recruitment, which have seen clashes between far-right ministers and Benjamin Netanyahu, on the one hand, and the flurry of Israeli officials, all for different reasons, on the other. Netanyahu and far-right allies have been at odds with Benny Gantz's co-led "State Camp" movement, other opposition parties, Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and Halevi, as well as sporadic clashes among members of their own alliance.
Mounting crises have pushed Netanyahu to consider abolishing the Israeli war cabinet following his fallout with Minister Gantz and public discord with Gallant over the recruitment of Ultra-Orthodox Jews to military service.
In a related development, an "unusual" disagreement and confrontation emerged, on Friday, in the War Cabinet between Smotrich and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Israeli media reported.
According to the Israel Hayom newspaper, Smotrich held Halevi responsible for the failure the occupation suffered on October 7, during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Smotrich accused Halevi of negligence, saying, "We were not the ones who went to sleep on October 6," to which Halevi loudly and angrily demanded Smotrich retract his statement.
Additionally, the evergrowing rift between the heads of the northern Israeli settlements and Israeli officials is still worsening, especially in light of the recent fires that have ravaged northern occupied Palestine after heavy bombardment from the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, not to mention the growing anti-government protests in "Israel," which also highlight the profound and expanding divisions within Israeli settler communities that could eventually escalate the entity from political turmoil to potential civil war.
In short, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed on June 18 that “there will be no civil war” in "Israel", it seems that all signs on the ground will prove him wrong.
Read next: Gantz to Netanyahu: 'Responsibility for civil war will be on you'
