Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to appoint Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel to the position of intelligence minister, who would be responsible for overseeing security on the eastern border, two sources confirmed on Sunday.
The offer is currently off the table, however, as it was blocked by Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich.The offer came as part of an attempt to solve a coalition dispute between Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir’s party resigned from the government in January in opposition to the hostage deal. The two parties ran on a joint ticket in the 2022 election but then split.
However, as part of what is known as the “Norwegian Law,” Otzma Yehudit’s return to the Knesset pushed out RZP MK Zvi Sukkot. Sukkot entered the Knesset after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu resigned his Knesset seat to serve solely as a minister. Eliyahu’s return to the Knesset pushed out Sukkot.
Otzma Yehudit returned to the government earlier in March. The “Norwegian Law” does not allow Eliyahu to resign his Knesset seat for a second time, and therefore one of the party’s two other ministers – Ben-Gvir or Development of the Negev and Galilee Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf – were expected to resign their Knesset seat to allow for Sukkot’s return.
Ben-Gvir has refused, however, and has attempted to leverage his position to reap the political benefit. According to coalition agreements between the Likud and Otzma Yehudit, the latter may appoint a deputy minister in addition to their three ministerial posts. Ben-Gvir proposed that Almog Cohen – officially a member of Otzma Yehudit but has de-facto been operating independently due to a rift between him and Ben-Gvir – resign his Knesset seat to become a deputy minister, but Cohen refused.
Ben-Gvir’s push
Ben-Gvir then pushed the idea that Fogel become intelligence minister, and Netanyahu agreed. Smotrich, however, refused, on the grounds that Otzma Yehudit should not be rewarded for insubordination, and should not receive more than what it was promised in coalition agreements.
Some members of Smotrich’s party, as well as members of the opposition, also criticized Ben-Gvir for requesting to open another ministry, since the government already has an unprecedented 33 ministers.
Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel initially served as intelligence minister, but the position remained vacant after she took over her current ministry from Ofir Akunis, who was appointed consul general in New York in March 2024.
