Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli occupation forces issued bombing threats to bomb civilian buildings in Southern Lebanon.
Israeli media: Person behind shooting operation at Allenby Crossing is a Jordanian Army soldier.
Israeli media citing Emergency Services: Both wounded in Allenby shooting operation now dead.
Israeli media: One soldier wounded at Allenby crossing now confirmed killed.
Israeli media: Preliminary reports of shooting operation at Allenby crossing with Jordan.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight

Smotrich slams Ben-Gvir: Israeli police ‘have completely failed’

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Israeli media
  • 30 Jun 2024 22:36
  • 3 Shares
5 Min Read

In a significant development highlighting deepening divisions within Israeli political circles, a heated war of words has erupted between the far-right allies.

Listen
  • x
  • 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)
    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."

Related News

Israeli police split over Ben-Gvir Al-Aqsa status quo change attempts

Israeli police storm Al-Aqsa, arrest 4 guards

"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'

  • Israeli Police
  • internal war
  • Israel
  • Gaza genocide
  • West Bank
  • Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Israeli occupation
  • Bezalel Smotrich
  • Itamar Ben-Gvir
  • Palestinians
  • Iran
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A Hezbollah supporter who lost his sight in a pager attack carried out by "Israel" on Sept. 17, 2024, covers his eyes with a red headband inscribed with the name "Hussein" during Ashoura, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'We Have Recovered': Lebanon marks 1st anniversary of Pager Attack

The Arab neighborhood of El Za'im, on the outskirts of east Occupied Al-Quds in the West Bank, near where Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement project, Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestine

'Israel’s' deliberate policies drive West Bank economy toward collapse

Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Politics

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns over parent company curbing activism

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll
US & Canada

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS