Religious Zionism Party on Verge of Leaving Coalition Over Gaza City Plan, Rothman Warns

By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu

The Israeli government’s recent decision to pursue a plan for Gaza City has brought the Religious Zionism party close to exiting the coalition, MK Simcha Rothman revealed in a Sunday interview with the Knesset Channel.

Rothman noted that party leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, despite publicly stating last week that he had “lost faith” in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s management of the war, has not yet stepped down.

“It’s definitely something we’re considering,” Rothman said, stressing that the party had previously warned it could leave if the war’s objectives were not met.

He explained that the cabinet’s move to push ahead with the Gaza City plan had brought them “very close” to making that decision, though no final call had been made yet.

“We’ll see what happens in the coming hours and days,” Rothman added, urging the government to stay focused on securing a clear victory over Hamas.

On Saturday night, Smotrich posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), where he expressed that the Gaza City plan made him believe Netanyahu was either unwilling or unable to lead the IDF to a definitive victory. However, Smotrich did not directly suggest he would resign.

This morning, Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot also voiced his concerns on X, asserting that if Israel diverges from its war objectives, the country should hold new elections.