Bennie Gantza centrist member of Israel’s three-member war cabinet threatened on Saturday to resign from the government if it does not adopt a new plan for the fight against Israel within three weeks. the war in GazaA step that would make Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more dependent on his own far-right allies.
His announcement escalates a rift within Israeli leadership The country has been embroiled in a war for more than seven months and has yet to achieve its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning dozens of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack.
Gantz has developed a six-point plan that includes the following: return of dozens of hostages, ending Hamas rule, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and setting up an international civil affairs administration. It also supports efforts to normalize relations with the United States Saudi Arabia.
He says if the proposal is not passed by June 8, he will leave the government. “If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” he said.
Gantz, a popular politician and longtime political rival of Netanyahu, joined his coalition and the war cabinet in the early days of the war.
Michael Varaklas / AP
The departure of the former military chief of staff and defense minister would make Netanyahu even more dependent on far-right allies who have taken a tough stance on ceasefire negotiations and the release of hostages, and who believe Israel should occupy Gaza and rebuild Jewish communities. settlements there.
Gantz spoke days after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the War Cabinet, openly said he had repeatedly begged the Cabinet to decide on a post-war vision for Gaza that would result in the establishment of a new Palestinian civilian leadership.
Netanyahu is under increasing pressure on several fronts. Hardliners in his government want the military offensive against Gaza southernmost town of Rafah to continue with the goal of crushing Hamas. Top ally the US and others have warned against the offensive on a city where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people had found shelter – hundreds of thousands have now fled – and they have threatened to do so scale back support on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivanwill be in Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend to discuss the war and will meet on Sunday with Netanyahu, who has stated that Israel would “stand alone” if necessary.
Many Israelis, concerned about the hostages and accusing Netanyahu of putting political interests above all else, want an agreement to stop the fighting and free them. There was new frustration on Friday when the army said its forces in Gaza had found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the October 7 attack. The discovery of the body of a fourth hostage was announced on Saturday.
The last conversations are in strive for a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, have achieved little. A vision beyond the war is also uncertain.
The war began after Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel says about 100 hostages are still trapped in Gaza, along with the bodies of about 30 others.
The Israeli offensive has done just that killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say, while hundreds more have been killed in the Gaza Strip occupied West Bank.
