Islam Times - “Israel’s” Chaos: Ben Gvir Suspends Support for Bibi’s Coalition amid Dispute over Palestinian Prisoners

“Israel’s” Chaos: Ben Gvir Suspends Support for Bibi’s Coalition amid Dispute over Palestinian Prisoners

Islam Times - “Israel” has entered the stage of political deadlock as the so-called “National” Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced that his far-right “Otzma Yehudit” party will not vote with the coalition until the government implements his demand to limit visitation rights for Palestinian security prisoners.

Ben Gvir informed the Zionist entity’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the “Otzma Yehudit” boycott a day after Bibi’s office announced on Tuesday that no imminent changes would be made to the rights and benefits of Palestinian prisoners, going against Ben Gvir, who had claimed that his authority superseded that of the prime minister on the issue.

The “Otzma Yehudit” boycott added to tensions within the coalition over the so-called “judicial overhaul”, a shipment of armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority, and other issues.

Ben Gvir’s refusal to cooperate with the coalition will have little immediate impact because the Knesset is currently in recess, however. The winter session will begin after the High Holidays on October 15.

“Otzma Yehudit” has repeatedly boycotted the government, or threatened to do so, to push its hardline demands since the coalition took power late last year.

At a faction meeting earlier on Wednesday, Ben Gvir said his party “made an uncompromising demand to significantly reform the conditions of terrorists in prison.”

“This is in accordance with the role and authority of the national security minister. It is a fundamental demand by ‘Otzma Yehudit’,” said Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly railed against the conditions of Palestinian security prisoners and taken steps to make their conditions more uncomfortable.

A Tuesday statement from the entity’s PM Prime noted that following a “situation assessment” by the security cabinet, it had been decided to hold a further discussion in October on prisoners held for security offenses, and that “there will be no changes until this discussion is held.”