National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir met with his Otzma Yehudit faction on Wednesday in a home in the city of Sderot in southern Israel and replied to criticism from the Likud.

Ben-Gvir stated: "I took cellphones away from terrorists in prison, and Netanyahu gave them back. This is not a fully right-wing government. Prime Minister, if you don't want Otzma Yehudit in the government, you're welcome to fire us. If you don't want a fully right-wing government, you are invited to send us home."

According to him, "We will not attend Knesset votes until Netanyahu realizes that the goal of this government is a full-on right-wing government and that we are an integral part of the discussions and part of the implementation of the Israeli government's security policy."

Earlier in the day, the Likud criticized Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir's decision to boycott today's Knesset voting, writing in a statement: "The Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, the IDF, and Israel's security forces are the ones managing the sensitive and complex security events that the State of Israel is dealing with. It is the Prime Minister who decides the relevant parties in the discussions. If this is not acceptable to Minister Ben-Gvir, he does not have to remain in the government."

Otzma Yehudit announced that it would not take part in Knesset votes scheduled for Wednesday in protest of what it considered the government's "weak response" to the one-hundred-and-four rockets that were launched from Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip overnight.

Otzma MK Almog Cohen stated: "The weak response of the IDF certainly invites the next round [of fighting] that will continue to harm the lives of our children and the normal way of life of the residents of the Gaza frontier and the south as a whole."