Jerusalem: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has withdrawn his resignation from the government after resolving a coalition crisis involving his Religious Zionist Party and the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which is led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as reported by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily.
According to Anadolu Agency, the dispute within the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolved when Knesset member Almog Cohen from Jewish Power resigned from parliament and was appointed as deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. This move allowed Smotrich to remain as finance minister following a meeting with Netanyahu. Consequently, Smotrich retracted his resignation from the Knesset just hours before it was due to take effect. Furthermore, Knesset member Tzvi Sukkot from the Religious Zionism party will return to the Knesset under the Norwegian Law after being absent for two and a half months.
Earlier, on Monday, Smotrich announced his resignation from his government post due to a dispute with Ben-Gvir, a decision described by Israeli media as “a temporary procedural step.” The Hebrew website Walla reported that Smotrich had submitted his resignation as finance minister in Netanyahu’s government due to the disagreement with Ben-Gvir.
Yedioth Ahronoth confirmed that Smotrich’s resignation was “a procedural step,” as he intended to return to his role as a Knesset member and had requested to be reappointed to his ministerial position once his parliamentary seat was restored. The newspaper noted that the Norwegian Law in Israel allows ministers or deputy ministers to resign from Knesset membership to focus on their executive duties, enabling the next candidate on their party list to enter parliament.