Benjamin Netanyahu says that if next week’s election brings him back to the Prime Minister’s Office, he won’t be taking direction from Washington on who to include in his coalition.

Recently, two US congressmen warned that if Netanyahu were to include far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir in a future government, it could damage US-Israel relations.

In public remarks on Sunday, Netanyahu said Ben Gvir could “certainly” be a minister in his next cabinet. Ben Gvir’s Religious Zionism Party is predicted to be the Knesset’s third largest faction following the November 1 vote.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu told an ultra-Orthodox Jewish radio station that he will not be dictated to, not even by Israel’s staunchest allies:

“We are a democracy and we will decide who will be in the next government. I know how to stand up for us. I know how to not bow my head, and to say ‘no’ when necessary.”

For more on this topic, see: Americans Prefer Arab Extremists to Jewish Ones in Israeli Governments