Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must add a member of the coalition to the small war cabinet, National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded in a letter on Monday.
"As a member of the coalition, a senior minister, and a member of the cabinet, I accepted your unilateral decision on the make-up of the 'small cabinet', which doesn't include me - the national security minister, and not one other like minded minister," he wrote, saying that Netanyahu only added, "certain people that you personally chose."
Ben-Gvir wrote that he respects Netanyahu's decision even if he doesn't agree with it and assured Netanyahu that he didn't intend to fight over it.
"This is despite the fact that it would have been more appropriate that the opinions of a massive constituency, who put its faith in us and asked us to represent it, would be heard in the small cabinet as well."
Professionals with experience in managing the war
The small cabinet is made up of Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), and National Unity leader and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. The proclaimed objective of the small cabinet is to have a smaller setup of professionals with experience to manage the war. While he is national security minister, Ben-Gvir has no military experience.
Furthermore, while he is in the coalition, Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit only has six seats.
Still, Ben-Gvir claimed that it was inconceivable that all the ministers in the small cabinet were "those who, for years, claimed that Hamas was deterred and that the payments to the terrorist organization would bring quiet. Those who fostered the inclusion policy and sowed illusions that led us to the current situation."
As such, Ben-Gvir demanded that Netanyahu add a representative "who was not part of the 'conception camp'" to the small cabinet. He added that as far as he was concerned, Netanyahu himself could choose who it was but that it had to be someone "who is not part of the errant view to which we have been dragged over years."