US investor Bill Ackman has called for Israel’s next government to exclude National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, while figures close to President Donald Trump are considering a wider coalition, The Jerusalem Post reported on 25 October.
The proposals come ahead of Israel’s general election on 27 October, with opinion polls indicating a close contest between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and opposition parties, Reuters reported.
Ackman, founder of investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management and a supporter of Trump, argued that the two ministers had damaged Israel’s international reputation through their statements and actions.
“Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have caused Israel enormous reputational damage with their statements and actions,” he wrote in a post on X on 25 October, according to Reuters.
Ackman said excluding the ministers could help Israel restore its international credibility, expand the Abraham Accords and improve relations with both Democrats and Republicans in the United States. The accords, brokered during Trump’s first administration, established diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020, with Morocco later restoring official ties.
Ackman has expressed support for Netanyahu, but his proposal would require the prime minister to change his coalition partners. His intervention does not amount to an endorsement of a particular candidate for prime minister.
The Jerusalem Post reported on 26 October that some figures in Trump’s inner circle were discussing a broader unity government, potentially including an agreement to rotate the premiership. Under the reported arrangement, Netanyahu would serve first before another prime minister took over and led regional diplomatic negotiations.
The newspaper reported that some US advisers believe a government without Ben-Gvir and Smotrich would make it easier to pursue Trump’s Middle East agenda, including possible progress towards normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Such an agreement would involve difficult regional negotiations, including questions concerning the Palestinians. Removing the two ministers from the government would not, by itself, guarantee a deal with Riyadh.
The Jerusalem Post also reported disagreements between US officials and Netanyahu over the implementation of Trump’s Gaza plan, Israel’s strategy towards Syria and efforts to strengthen Lebanon’s government. These accounts were attributed to sources familiar with the discussions.
Netanyahu has reportedly told Trump that he wants to form a national unity government after the election. Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, has also publicly described Netanyahu as favouring a broader coalition, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The proposal faces substantial political obstacles. Opposition figures, including Gadi Eisenkot and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, have opposed joining a government led by Netanyahu, while US officials have not held substantive discussions with them about the reported rotating-premiership framework, the newspaper said.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has rejected claims that Washington is trying to push Israel towards a unity government, according to The Jerusalem Post. The newspaper reported that Huckabee said the administration did not intervene in Israeli elections or dictate decisions to the Israeli prime minister.
The election arithmetic could also complicate negotiations. Reuters reported that polls suggested Netanyahu’s bloc could struggle to secure a parliamentary majority. Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party was projected to win around 10 Knesset seats, up from six, while Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party was projected to win eight, compared with seven previously.
A government needs a majority of 61 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset. Even if Netanyahu’s bloc secures that threshold, replacing established coalition partners would require negotiations with opposition politicians who have ruled out serving under him.
The proposed unity arrangement therefore remains an idea discussed by people close to Trump rather than an agreed government plan. Israel’s election on 27 October is the next major step in determining whether a different coalition becomes politically possible.
