Ben-Gvir rules out running with Smotrich for elections, says parties are 'fundamentally different'

By103FMJULY 27, 2026 17:18National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told 103FM on Monday that he had ruled out another joint election run with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, arguing that the two parties appeal to fundamentally different electorates.The Otzma Yehudit leader expanded by telling 103FM the reasons why he believes the two parties should run separately in the next election.“The difference between the public that votes for them and the public that votes for me is like heaven and earth. They are a sub-sector within religious Zionism. It is important, and I love that sector, but they are national-religious voters with what is called a very, very specific orientation. That is not all national-religious voters. They appeal to a sector within religious Zionism; I appeal to all the people of Israel. I am everyone’s Itamar,” Ben-Gvir said.“I belong to everyone. I belong to secular Israelis, traditional Israelis, Masuda from Sderot, Moshe from Kiryat Shmona and Greenbaum from Ramat Aviv.”“First of all, Smotrich is a very smart politician and a very talented minister. He truly deserves a great deal of credit for what he has done for the settlement movement, but he appeals to a very, very specific sector,” Ben-Gvir said regarding his partner in the government. (L-R): National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich seen in the Knesset plenum, December 29, 2022 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Ben-Gvir warns against broad unity governmentBen-Gvir said there was also a practical reason for opposing another merger between the parties.“Sometimes these things clash. The problem is that one plus one does not always equal two. I want there to be a right-wing government, and for there to be a right-wing government, sometimes one party weakens the other,” he said. “I appeal to everyone. I appeal to the South, the North, the periphery and the haredim. I appeal to everyone,” he said.“The boundaries I set are very, very clear,” he said. “I want a government whose character is very, very clear, a right-wing government that acts rather than one that is paralyzed,” he added.Ben-Gvir also addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent remarks that he would seek to establish as broad a government as possible.“I am honestly a little concerned about Netanyahu’s drive for a unity government with Eisenkot and Bennett,” he said. “It is a drive that I do not understand. After all, if he truly wants to pursue judicial reform, dismiss the attorney-general and do all sorts of things like that, how will he do it with Eisenkot?”Ben-Gvir explained why he opposed cooperation with the proposed Peace Council in Gaza and discussed his political power and standing.“Throughout the past year, I opposed what was happening in Gaza,” he said. “The decision in Gaza must involve encouraging emigration. There can be no cooperation with Hamas, and foreign forces cannot be relied upon. Even those who believed in those things need to look at reality.“Hamas is not disarming. It is only trying to rebuild itself. Under these circumstances, I told my colleagues, ‘I do not understand how we can talk about a Board of Peace. With Hamas, you speak only through the crosshairs.’“I say this is the wrong step. People will have an opportunity in the next election. If I have not six seats but 12 or 15, my power will be much greater.”Ben-Gvir further said, “I think I influenced Netanyahu a great deal over the past two and a half years on many issues. Things he did not dare to do in the past, or perhaps dreamed of doing, he did. I do not know whether that was because of Itamar Ben-Gvir.“My presence in the security cabinet and the fact that I lead a hard-line approach do have an impact,” he said.Later in the interview, Ben-Gvir described what he said was the change that had taken place in Israeli prisons.“It is time you understood that while you are snickering, the terrorists wet themselves at night,” he said. “It is time you understood that this contemptuous talk about ‘pitas and crocodiles’ is what we dismissed throughout the state’s 78 years of existence."“It reached the point where you would enter an Israeli security prison and find a terrorist playing ping-pong. Next to him was a large refrigerator full of meat, beside that was a lawn, and there was a store with 20 kinds of shampoo," he added.“The entire concept was that it paid to be a terrorist. Then Itamar Ben-Gvir came along. He was not an army general and was not an officer, and now there is no one, including the head of the Shin Bet, who does not come to me and tell me, ‘You deserve the Israel Prize for what you did in the prisons,’” he said.Follow us on Google