The Otzma Yehudit party, headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced on Wednesday that it is boycotting Knesset votes on Wednesday and will hold a special party meeting in Sderot due to the “weak response in Gaza.”

The move followed reports of an unofficial ceasefire between Israel and Gaza terror groups.

Many additional members of the coalition also slammed the government for its response to the rocket fire from Gaza. Settlements Minister Orit Struck (Religious Zionism) said on Reshet Bet: “Our government is continuing the policy of the previous government – Gaza is not paying the price for the terror of Hamas. The IDF’s response cannot in any way be called ‘paying a price.’ We should have woken up to some destroyed buildings in Gaza and dead terrorists.”

Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi slammed the government on Wednesday, telling Radio 103FM: “The government adopts a policy of granting immunity to terrorists and buries its head in the ground…We are paralyzed – this is a lax policy.”

Davidi addressed the Prime Minister: “You are making a serious mistake when you adopt the policy of allowing terrorists to continue living, which gives terrorists life insurance. Islamic Jihad and Hamas control everything that happens in our region in recent months because the government adopts a policy of granting immunity to terrorists. Not a single terrorist pays with his life and even the heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad fail to pay any price for the orders to kill us.”

The mayor warned: “You can’t always say that because there is no perfect solution, we’ll continue the delusional solutions that the Israeli government is offering today.”

The head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, Tamir Aidan, also slammed the government: “The reality imposed on us is completely delusional and the decision for a ‘ceasefire’ proves once again that those who are running the show are the terrorist organizations and not the State of Israel. If until now we dragged our feet and only reacted, today we are not even reacting as expected from a sovereign country that endangers the lives of its residents. This is not how security is created, this is how our security is harmed.”

“I demand that the Israeli government and its head order the security forces to initiate severe offensive operations and strike at the heads of the vile terrorist organizations, and we, for our part, offer full support to the IDF and the security forces to act in order to restore deterrence and a normal routine to our residents.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)