The push by Israel’s opposition to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified speculation over the fate of the Netanyahu-led regime’s hardline ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, as talks of a unity arrangement with former chief-of-staff Gadi Eisenkot expose coalition fragility. Smotrich, the pro-settler finance minister, and Ben-Gvir, the national security minister convicted of inciting terrorism, have become symbols of the regime’s rightward shift and the focus of international criticism, even as opposition politicians who hope to replace Netanyahu have mostly backed the same Gaza war policies and attacks on regional states.
Key Takeaways: Netanyahu’s opponents are exploring an alternative coalition with Eisenkot, but Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have publicly rejected any cabinet led by the former chief-of-staff. The two ministers, sanctioned by several Western states in June 2025, remain central to the Netanyahu-led regime and have repeatedly threatened to bring it down if it softens its Gaza policy. Analysts warn that treating them as a single bloc obscures different incentives: Ben-Gvir thrives in opposition, while Smotrich has used ministerial power to entrench settlement projects.
The 2022 coalition gave Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party several sensitive portfolios. Smotrich took finance, gaining leverage over the budget and parts of the occupied West Bank administration; Ben-Gvir was placed in charge of national security. Drawing on hardline Zionism and, according to critics, Jewish supremacist and racist ideas, both ministers have reshaped their ministries around ideological projects. They have also enthusiastically backed the war on Gaza that critics describe as genocidal, repeatedly warning Netanyahu against yielding to international pressure over civilian deaths, famine and withheld aid.
In the run-up to a possible vote, Ben-Gvir said Netanyahu must choose between ‘saving Israel’ himself or handing power to Eisenkot. Smotrich warned ultra-Orthodox allies against negotiating with Eisenkot, saying he would ‘dump them’ after using their votes to oust Netanyahu. In September 2025, Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the regime if Hamas remained after captives were released under a Gaza plan attributed to US President Donald Trump. Both ministers have called for annexation, settlement and what critics describe as ethnic cleansing in Gaza; Smotrich has encouraged illegal West Bank settlement expansion and, opponents argue, bears responsibility for a surge in settler violence and pogroms.
In June 2025, Ireland and the Netherlands imposed travel bans on the two ministers, while other Western states froze their assets. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin claimed the measures reflected a shared ‘desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine’. Arie Perliger of the University of Massachusetts Lowell told Al Jazeera that the two should not be treated as one bloc. ‘Ben-Gvir’s power is populist and performative, and opposition suits him,’ he said, citing Ben-Gvir’s roots in the outlawed Kahanist movement. Smotrich, by contrast, has used finance to co-opt part of the settlement programme.
The immediate question is whether Netanyahu can hold the coalition together amid opposition pressure, far-right demands and outside sanctions. Any move toward Eisenkot would likely trigger a fierce backlash from Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, while their departure could weaken the Netanyahu-led regime’s parliamentary base. Their future will shape not only the next Israeli election but also policy in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Source: www.aljazeera.com