Likud and Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit clash over makeup of next Israeli government

A public dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit intensified on Tuesday over the potential composition of Israel’s next government. The latest exchange followed claims by Ben-Gvir’s party that Netanyahu could seek to bring former military chief Gadi Eisenkot into a future coalition at the expense of Otzma Yehudit, an assertion rejected by Likud. “Enough with the deception,” Likud said in a statement directed at Ben-Gvir, adding that Netanyahu had repeatedly said he intended to form the next government “based on the existing parties within the nationalist camp.” Likud urged Ben-Gvir to focus instead on preventing the formation of an alternative government involving Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Avigdor Lieberman and Arab parties. […]