Ben Gvir Accuses Likud of Campaign to Weaken Otzma Yehudit

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Likud on Monday evening, October 26, of starting a campaign that evening to weaken Otzma Yehudit before the election. The party leader said Likud should seek votes from Gadi Eisenkot’s camp rather than compete for his party’s voters. “Instead of bringing votes from Eisenkot, they are trying to push me below the electoral threshold,” Ben Gvir said. He alleged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had assured European countries that the next government would be a unity government without him. He connected that allegation to what he described as Netanyahu’s announcement that he would not return as national security minister and to discussion within Likud of a unity government. Ben Gvir urged voters who wanted Netanyahu to remain prime minister alongside a strong Otzma Yehudit to vote for his party. He argued that the strength of the right-wing bloc as a whole mattered more than which individual party was largest. His appeal distinguished choosing Likud’s ballot from choosing Otzma Yehudit’s. The accusations followed an earlier public dispute. On October 21, Likud accused Ben Gvir of spreading false claims against Netanyahu and harming the right-wing bloc. Likud said he was already a senior minister and could hold a senior position in the next government if the bloc won. That statement preceded Monday evening’s renewed accusation.