Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has resigned from his post, increasing problems for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Channel 12 reported on Monday that Smotrich resigned in a letter to Netanyahu, Press TV reported.
A spokesperson for Smotrich said the resignation was a protest against ultranationalist-Zionist Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben-Gvir's request for more ministerial positions upon his return to the regime.
Smotrich will return to his seat in the Knesset as a lawmaker for the far-right Religious Zionism party.
The resignation is not likely to collapse Netanyahu's coalition, but it will increase the regime’s problems.
The move highlights growing fractures within Israel’s far-right coalition, which has faced internal divisions on key appointments and policies in recent months.
Earlier in January, Ben-Gvir, along with his entire party, resigned from Netanyahu’s ruling coalition over the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
bd-pratidin/GR
