Benny Gantz, an Israeli opposition leader within the country’s three-member war cabinet, said on Saturday that he would go away the country if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t submit a brand new plan to repatriate hostages and end Hamas rule in Gaza by June 8 .
Gantz’s departure would significantly increase already-growing pressure on Netanyahu, seven months after the Hamas attack devastated Israel and led it to wage a ruthless war in Gaza. It alone wouldn’t derail the ruling coalition, which has 64 seats within the 120-seat parliament.
Netanyahu immediately rejected the demand.
“The conditions set by Benny Gantz are washed-out words whose meaning is clear: the end of the war and defeat for Israel, the surrender of most of the hostages, the integrity of Hamas and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” the prime minister said in an interview Opinion.
Israel’s military is attempting to destroy Hamas combat units within the southern Gaza town of Rafah – an operation that has already forced half 1,000,000 Palestinians to flee – and Netanyahu expressed outrage that Gantz is threatening to dissolve the cupboard within the midst of the fighting .
It isn’t any secret that Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have barely spoken to Netanyahu in recent weeks about his conduct of the war and the way in which he has angered US President Joe Biden and his administration, which opposes the Rafah deployment.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan is predicted in Israel on Sunday after visiting Saudi Arabia. He has worked to advance an agreement that will normalize relations between the 2 countries but would require Palestinians to have a path to citizenship – a condition that Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.
Gantz responded to Netanyahu in a later statement, saying: “There is no intention to establish a Palestinian state, nor are the Saudis calling for it.”
A U.S. official declined to comment on Israeli domestic politics but said the Biden administration had made it clear publicly that Israel’s military deployment required a political plan to attain the defeat of Hamas.
Last Wednesday, Gallant issued his own statement wherein he accused Netanyahu of failing to create a so-called “day-after plan” for Gaza and said Israel was heading in the right direction to reoccupy the territory he considers unacceptable. Gantz offered Gallant his support shortly afterwards.
At his press event on Saturday, Gantz went much further and presented an extended list of demands. He pointed to the War Cabinet’s initial successes and said it had now fallen apart.
“For many months, the unity was actually real and meaningful,” he said. “But something has gone wrong lately. No significant decisions were made. Leadership measures necessary to ensure victory were not taken. A small minority has taken over the command bridge of the Israeli ship and is leading it into a concrete wall.”
He added: “Personal and political considerations began to penetrate the holy of holies – the security of Israel.”
The opposition’s grievance against Netanyahu is that he has allowed his far-right coalition partners to dictate policy just so he can stay in power, ignoring pleas from the United States and Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia.
However, Netanyahu says that a plan for the long run can only emerge when Hamas is defeated and the people of Gaza are not any longer afraid of it.
Gantz listed quite a few demands, including defeating Hamas, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and establishing a coalition of Arabs, Palestinians, Americans and Europeans to handle civil affairs within the devastated coastal strip. He said Israelis evacuated from the north due to ongoing fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah should be returned to their homes by September. He said Netanyahu must promote ties with Saudi Arabia and devise an elusive plan to draft religious men.
Otherwise, he said, “If you choose to follow the path of the fanatics and lead the entire nation into the abyss, we will be forced to resign from the government.” He said he would “turn to the people and form a government that may win the trust of the people.”
How exactly he can do that stays unclear. One option may very well be to persuade five members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party to oppose him, which could lead on to the collapse of the federal government and necessitate latest elections.
The 64-year-old Gantz, who consistently ranks ahead of Netanyahu as the long run prime minister within the polls, turned to the camera to personally address the top of state:
“I have known you for many years as an Israeli leader and patriot: you know very well what needs to be done. The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Can you do the right and patriotic thing today?”
Netanyahu, 74, is the country’s longest-serving prime minister. After he was charged with bribery and fraud five years ago, centrist politicians increasingly refused to work with him and he turned to far-right parties to form his latest government in late 2022.
The war began when Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping one other 250 to Gaza. Israel’s response, geared toward uprooting Hamas as a military and political entity, has destroyed entire neighborhoods and killed about 35,000 people, in response to Hamas officials, who make no distinction between fighters and civilians. Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
