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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir traded accusations on social media this week over whether their parties should run on a joint list in Israel's upcoming elections, exposing a rift within the country's governing right-wing bloc.
The dispute, conducted entirely through posts and videos on X, saw Netanyahu press Ben-Gvir and fellow far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich to unite their parties for the vote, while Ben-Gvir accused the prime minister of trying to undermine him.
In a video posted to his X account, Netanyahu argued that Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party and Smotrich's Religious Zionism party needed to run together, saying the right wing wins when it stays unified and loses when it splinters. He pointed to Israel's 1992 election, when, he said, the right received more votes than the left overall but lost because it was divided, a result he said led directly to the signing of the Oslo Accords.
Netanyahu warned that the same scenario could repeat itself in the coming election. He said he intended to bring Ben-Gvir and Smotrich together in the coming days and called on them to set aside their disagreements and run on a single list.
Smotrich responded first, writing that it was "a time for unity and responsibility in the national camp."
Ben-Gvir's reply was sharper. Responding directly to Netanyahu on X, he wrote, "Mr. Prime Minister, I didn't understand your video."
He accused Netanyahu of trying to weaken "the strong Jewish Power party" in order to build a broad "national unity government" with Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who has emerged as a rival political figure. Ben-Gvir said the two men had met several times in recent weeks, and cited public opinion polling suggesting his party would lose three to four seats if it merged with Smotrich's.
He argued that right-wing votes would be best served by a joint list combining Smotrich with Ofer Winter, rather than with his own party. "Israel's land is in danger. Israel's people are in danger. The State of Israel is in danger. I will do everything so that you don't form a government with Eisenkot!" Ben-Gvir wrote.
Netanyahu answered Ben-Gvir in kind, echoing his own words back at him: "I didn't understand your video. Are you saying that by calling on you to merge with Smotrich, I want a 'weak Jewish Power'? The exact opposite."
Netanyahu argued that a Ben-Gvir-Smotrich alliance would strengthen the right, and warned that if Smotrich, whose party is polling near the electoral threshold, failed to merge, Eisenkot would instead form a coalition with Yair Golan and Arab parties.
Adopting the same language Ben-Gvir had used, Netanyahu wrote, "Israel's land is in danger. Israel's people are in danger. The State of Israel is in danger," and accused Ben-Gvir of putting personal ambition ahead of the country's interests.
Neither leader indicated, as of the exchange, that the dispute had been resolved.
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