Gantz threatens to exit Netanyahu government if war plan not reached

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 May 2024 23:04

The war cabinet member says that the government has failed to recently make "crucial decisions" and "acts of leadership needed to guarantee victory."

Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz attends a press conference in Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, on October 28, 2023 (AP)

War Cabinet member Benny Gantz gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum on Saturday, threatening to leave the emergency government in case his conditions are not met by next month, as the occupation entity falls deeper into political divisions amid a lack of achievements in Gaza after 8 months of the genocidal war.

In a televised statement, Gantz, who is a prominent figure in the opposition led by Yair Lapid, 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.

According to Gantz, the government must devise "a comprehensive plan of action with six objectives: the return of our hostages, the dissolution of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Strip, and the establishment of a governing alternative in Gaza." Additionally, it must include "the return of the residents of the north by September 1, the promotion of normalization [with Saudi Arabia], and the adoption of the Israeli military service outline," referring to a law forcing military conscription on ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Either 'Zionism or cynicism'

Elsewhere in his statement, Gantz promised to give Israelis “a horizon of hope” and to "restore Israel’s strength.”

But in the meantime, he joined other senior officials lately warning of the possibility of a “long and harsh existential war — even harder than we have known to date.”

Addressing Netanyahu, Gantz said in a challenging manner, "I am looking in your eyes tonight, and I say to you – the choice is in your hands. After I spoke with you repeatedly, the moment of truth has arrived. The hour of decision has arrived.”

He added that he had known the prime minister for a long time as “a leader and an Israeli patriot, who knows well what must be done.”

“The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done it,” he said. “Can you do the right and patriotic thing today?”

Today, Netanyahu must choose “between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and divisiveness, between responsibility and neglect, and between victory and disaster," Gantz said, adding that his party will join in as partners if the premier chooses “the national interest over the personal in the footsteps of Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Begin and Rabin."

“But if you choose the path of the zealots and lead the whole state into the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” he warned. “We will turn to the people and form a government that will win the trust of the people.”

“We face challenges that we have not known since the War of Independence," he said but claimed the occupation can prevail.

He also reiterated his support for early elections, which are now scheduled for 2026.

'Three losers'

Before Gantz's statement, opposition leader and head of the Yesh Atid political party Yair Lapid called on him to announce his resignation from what he described as "the most terrible government" in the history of the occupation entity.

He added that Gantz "must announce that he is no longer able to give a hand to the abandonment of hostages, abandonment of the north, and crushing the economy and the middle class."

"[Gantz] should say that he will no longer help Netanyahu stay in power, and he is leaving the government immediately and calling for elections now."

In recent months, a rift has deepened between Gantz, on one side, and Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, on the other, as they've clashed over war strategy, tactics, and the "day after" vision. Both parties have resorted to leveraging threats of resignation from the government against Netanyahu.

On his part, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman told Channel 12 that “the three losers” should resign — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Lieberman called for their resignation over the failures of the government on October 7 following the Resistance's operation and what he sees as a failure to bring about victory in the war on Gaza.

He added that he would only join the emergency wartime cabinet if Netanyahu resigned.