The Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, has resigned from his post.
Smotrich communicated his resignation in a letter addressed to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday.
A spokesperson for Smotrich said the move was a protest against nationalist-religious Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben Gvir’s request for more ministerial positions upon his return to the government.
In the letter, Smotrich announced his resignation as a cabinet minister and his resumption of a seat in the Knesset for his far-right Religious Zionism party.
With his decision to reclaim his status, Smotrich would push Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer out of parliament.
When Amichai Eliyahu became Heritage Minister in 2023, Kroizer became an MK under the so-called Norwegian Law, which allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats filled by members of their parties.
However, a statement by Religious Zionism said the move was in response to Otzma Yehudit chief and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s “violation of the agreements”; between him, Smotrich, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The statement said that when Otzma Yehudit quit the coalition in January, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu’s resignation from the cabinet forced the resignation of then-Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot, who held a lower spot on the two parties’ joint electoral list in the 2022 legislative election, rather than Kroizer.
