Benny Gantz resigned from Israel’s emergency government and called for brand spanking new elections. He criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the war against Hamas.
The departure of Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu and a former general, is not going to cause the ruling coalition to collapse. But it does deprive the federal government of a moderate voice through the war that began after the October 7 Hamas attack. Netanyahu will subsequently give you the option to rely more on his right-wing coalition partners.
The prime minister and his allies control 64 of the 120 seats in parliament.
Following Gantz’s resignation, far-right party leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who holds six seats in Netanyahu’s coalition, published a letter on X demanding to be included within the war cabinet in Gantz’s place.
“It is time to take bold decisions, achieve real deterrence and bring security to the people of Israel,” Ben Gvir wrote.
Gantz, a member of a three-member war cabinet that also included Netanyahu, told a televised news conference that the prime minister was stopping Israel from achieving a “real victory” within the war against Hamas, adding that “fateful strategic decisions are being made with hesitation and postponement for political reasons.”
He called for elections in the autumn, as Israel marks the primary anniversary of the attacks, “which will lead to a genuine unity government.”
There was initially no public comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Gantz postponed his announcement a day after the Israeli military freed 4 hostages in an operation in central Gaza. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, greater than 270 Palestinians were killed within the operation.
In his speech, Gantz said that the military operation would take years and that he couldn’t make “empty promises” that may guarantee a simple and quick victory.
He said a real victory would put “the return of the hostage above political survival and must combine military success with political and civil initiative.” It must include the alternative of Hamas and the creation of a regional alliance against Iran led by the United States and the whole Western world.
Gantz said he supported the ceasefire agreement approved by the war cabinet, the principles of which were presented by US President Joe Biden. “I call on the prime minister to have the courage to stand behind it and do everything to promote it,” he said, pledging to support such a plan as opposition leader.
Three weeks ago Gantz announced that he would depart the war cabinet by June 8 if Netanyahu didn’t meet a protracted list of demands which have not been met.
Gantz had sought to bring together a coalition of Arabs, Palestinians, Americans and Europeans to administer civil affairs within the coastal strip and return Israelis evacuated from the north due to ongoing fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah to their homeland by September. He said Netanyahu must improve relations with Saudi Arabia and give you an elusive plan for drafting religious men.
Gantz, a former defense minister and former chief of the Israel Defense Forces General Staff, has been ahead of Netanyahu as the following prime minister in most polls for the reason that war began in October.
Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping one other 250. Israel’s response – aimed toward freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas as a military and political entity – has killed around 35,000 Palestinians, in keeping with Hamas officials, who don’t distinguish between fighters and civilians.
