Smotrich | Israel news feed

The new round of sanctions, combined with increasingly hostile public rhetoric aimed at the far-right Israeli ministers, demonstrates that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich remain front-and-center in the mind of U.S. officials aiming to avert any further crisis in the Middle East

'I am proud to fight and prevent the Arab takeover of the territories and help legitimize the Jewish heroes who settle the West Bank,' wrote Smotrich in response to a released document that blames him for undermining the effort to clamp down on illegal settlement construction

The war cabinet member accused Ben-Gvir and Smotrich of blackmailing the prime minister and harming national security. Smotrich replied, 'This is not blackmail; it is the legitimate opinion of millions of Israelis'

The defense minister accused the finance minister of undermining the defense establishment, after Smotrich told the IDF chief of staff he opposes additional appointments of senior army brass

​Smotrich is believed to be trying to avoid scrutiny and 'hide' the coalition funds inside the larger budget. If the budget is not approved by February 19, an across-the-board cut of 70 billion shekels will need to imposed