Israeli minister brushes off reports of his ouster

Israel’s finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, denied that there was any plan to oust him.

With cost-of-living and wage protests escalating in Israel, some commentators have said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was thinking of replacing Steinitz. But Steinitz, a longtime Netanyahu ally and Likud Party stalwart, told Israel Radio on Monday that such reports are “baseless.”

“Sometimes there are arguments, differences on nuance, and we resolve them and reach agreement,” he said. “But working relations and interpersonal relations continue to be very good.”

Addressing the Likud faction in the Knesset, Netanyahu praised Steinitz for his “excellent” handling of the economic crisis.