Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, have once again taken their internal disagreements into the public sphere. This latest confrontation comes as the country prepares for a general election scheduled for October, highlighting significant fractures within the existing right-wing coalition.
Observers suggest that Ben-Gvir’s increasingly hostile stance toward the prime minister is a calculated effort to position himself as the primary representative for far-right voters. The tension has manifested in various ways, including Ben-Gvir’s decision to boycott cabinet meetings to pressure Netanyahu into adopting more aggressive policies regarding Palestine. He has frequently criticized the prime minister for being too lenient on Gaza and has opposed the return of bodies belonging to Palestinians accused of attacking Israel.
Conversely, Netanyahu has accused the national security minister of leaking sensitive national security information for personal gain. In a retaliatory move, Ben-Gvir’s party demanded that all cabinet members, including the prime minister, undergo lie detector tests, suggesting that Netanyahu himself was responsible for the leaks.
The current public spat intensified on August 24, when Ben-Gvir surprised the prime minister by announcing the discovery of the Altalena shipwreck. The vessel, which carried arms, was sunk by Israeli forces in June 1948. By making the announcement independently, Ben-Gvir prevented Netanyahu from claiming credit for the discovery, which holds significant symbolic importance for the Israeli right. Following the announcement, Netanyahu held a separate press conference and notably refused to be photographed alongside his cabinet colleague.
On August 27, Netanyahu posted a video on social media urging Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist party to set aside their “personal issues” and form a unified front to consolidate the right-wing vote. Ben-Gvir responded by stating, “Mr. Prime Minister, I did not understand your video,” and accused Netanyahu of intentionally weakening far-right parties to facilitate a potential coalition with the centrist Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot.
Netanyahu has warned that internal divisions could lead to an electoral defeat, drawing parallels to the 1992 election when the right-wing bloc lost to the Labor party because multiple parties failed to cross the electoral threshold. Current polling indicates that Netanyahu’s bloc is expected to secure 48 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while the Eisenkot-led bloc is projected to win 57 seats, with the remaining 15 seats going to unaligned parties. Netanyahu has reportedly acknowledged that his party’s standing is currently worse than polls suggest and that a loss is likely unless the situation changes.
Beyond electoral strategy, the two leaders have clashed over Ben-Gvir’s controversial publicity stunts. These include his high-profile eviction of a UNRWA facility while wearing tactical gear and a video mocking pro-Palestinian activists captured from an intercepted aid flotilla. These actions drew international condemnation and rare public rebukes from Netanyahu, who stated that such behavior did not align with Israel’s values.
Analysts view the ongoing public feud as evidence of Ben-Gvir’s growing influence within the political landscape. One commentator noted that Netanyahu’s recent appeals for unity suggest the prime minister is increasingly reliant on his national security minister. As the October election approaches, the struggle for dominance within the right-wing bloc continues to shape the political discourse in Israel. The report also notes that which has overseen Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and launched military attacks against six countries in the last few years, the two leaders hurled shots at each other on social media in a demonstration of widening cracks within the right-wing coalition. The report also notes that headed by Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political survival amid domestic crises and international isolation, experts say the online fight reflects deep differences within the right-wing coalition. The report also notes that for example, Ben-Gvir, along with Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, gathered the media recently to inform the country about recovering the remains of the arms ship Atalena from the depths of the Mediterranean without Netanyahu’s knowledge. The report also notes that “The (trick) was nothing less than brilliant, a maneuver that deserves to be studied by political science departments around the world,” said one commentator. The report also notes that in his drive to establish his credentials as the most virulent and anti-Palestinian politician in Israel, Ben-Gvir has frequently resorted to acts of extreme bigotry, attracting unkind attention worldwide. The report also notes that some of these acts of desperation have been so bigoted that even Netanyahu – who is himself facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes – called out Ben-Gvir for violating “Israel’s values and norms”.
