The close friends of Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gabir, his secret partners and members of the Otzma Yehudit management over the years, Baruch Marzel and Michael Ben Ari – have decided that they are no longer active in the party.
The confrontation between them and Ben Gabir broke out a month ago but intensified this week, when the two publicly attacked Ben Gabir’s actions. Among other things, they oppose the union with the religious Zionist party and the moderate line that leads to their apprehension of Ben Gabir, who disapproves of the movement.
In a letter to the activists, Ben Gvir wrote that “Otzma Yehudit is not a movement like that, it does not exist and I do not advocate its mishna. I moved forward, while remembering to myself where I came from and where I am going and not forgetting my role to fight for the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel.”
Despite the high tones that have been heard in recent days, it is claimed that the “division” in Otzma Yehudit is an election spin, while the two are seen as extreme against Ben Gabir, he appeals to the moderate right-wing crowd in favor of transferring more votes to his party.
The right-winger Baruch Marzel denied this, and resolutely attacked his good friend. “From the day he was elected, the secretariat and the management were abolished. He chose for himself some yes-men who do his bidding. I can’t give kosher to a party that I don’t know what they are cooking. What will happen tomorrow when they put him in the government? I’m afraid. I told him that the day he becomes a minister I’m starting to fear I personally am not going to vote, I’m afraid of being disappointed,” Marzel said on Channel 14.
Ben Gvir commented on his words in a tweet and wrote on his Twitter account: “I love Baruch Marzel Ehvat Nefesh and respect him very much and will continue to respect him, and I have no bad word to say about him. Baruch was disqualified unfairly by the Supreme Court and a great injustice was done to him. I know And I cherish his activity, but I am not Rabbi Kahane the 14th, and the party does not continue the path of the so-called movement.”