Blinken, Gantz coordinate actions as ultimatum deadline nears
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State Secretary, Antony Blinken, holds a phone call with Benny Gantz, as a deadline set for Netanyahu nears.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken and then Security Minister Benny Gantz move to take their seats before their meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters, in occupied al-Quds, occupied Palestine, on May 25, 2021. (AP)
The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held a phone call with Israeli war cabinet member and co-leader of the State Camp movement, Benny Gantz, on Friday.
According to a press release attributed to State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller, the two officials discussed the latest efforts to achieve a ceasefire as part of a deal to secure the release of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken and Gantz also discussed efforts to prevent conflict from expanding in the region.
The press release explained that Blinken reiterated to the Israeli official the US President Joe Biden's position on a "major Rafah operation," and the importance of increasing the quantities of humanitarian aid delivered into the Gaza Strip.
On that point, Blinken also pointed to talks between "Israel" and Egypt regarding the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which Israeli occupation forces have closed and occupied. The top diplomat said that the two sides should conclude the talks "as soon as possible."
Moreover, the statement revealed that Blinken and Gantz discussed efforts to achieve the normalization of relations between "Israel" and the regional governments, which the release described as "further integration" of "Israel" in the region.
The two officials also discussed plans for the day after the war on Gaza ends, which Gantz has publicly demanded to be decided upon.
Gantz's deadline edges closer
Although Gantz is part of the Israeli war cabinet and the larger Israeli coalition government, holding the position of Minister Without Portfolio, the Israeli politician co-led the Israeli opposition before October 7, 2023.
Earlier on May 18 this year, Gantz gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum, threatening to leave the emergency government in case his conditions were not met by June, pushing the occupation entity deeper into political divisions.
In a televised statement, Gantz said that "something [is] wrong" in the war cabinet and that it is a shell of what it was in the early days after launching the war on Gaza last October.
Recently, he said, "crucial decisions were not made," and the "acts of leadership needed to guarantee victory were not made.”
"A small minority took over the bridge of the Israeli ship, and is sailing it toward a wall of rocks," he said, referring to Netanyahu and right-wing extremists, Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The opposition official laid out a six-point roadmap to be addressed and approved by June 8, or else he would resign from the cabinet.
Read more: Ben-Gvir to Gantz: You are a 'smalltime leader, bigtime deceiver'
