Second Bennett aide resigns in weeks

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The chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Tal Gan Zvi, quit on Monday, less than two weeks after another key aide left, dealing a twin blow to a leader who has yet to finish his first year in office.

The coalition that was led by Bennett took a hit days ago after legislator Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi dropped out of the Knesset on Thursday for several reasons. She mainly cited the Israeli occupation and police brutality perpetrated against Palestinians at journalist Shireen Abu Akleh's funeral.

Shireen Abu Akleh, famed Al Jazeera journalist and veteran reporter, was murdered on May 11 when Israeli occupation forces storming the Jenin refugee camp, occupied West Bank, shot her with a live bullet to the head as she was covering the events of the storming.

Read more: White House condemns Abu Akleh's killing, calls for investigation

 

The occupation PM's office issued no explanation for Tal Gan Zvi's resignation after a decade at Bennett's side.

Gan Tzvi was considered Bennett's close adviser, having accompanied him since the beginning of his career and kept the right-wing coalition at bay during the previous year.

Shimrit Meir, the prime minister's top adviser, resigned on May 13, citing "considerable sacrifices in (her) personal life" Bennett's two inner circles were led by Meir and Gan Tzvi, with Meir representing Bennett's new team and Gan Tzvi representing the old. The two leaders, as well as their teams, were known to dispute, and Israeli media recently reported on it.

"At the end of a decade of intense collaboration, and after a year in the challenging and loaded role of chief of staff, I asked to finish my role soon and turn to new horizons," stated Gan Tzvi.

The Israeli occupation is experiencing a political crisis caused by the resignation of the head of the coalition government and member of the Yamina party, Idit Silman, which led to the Bennett-Lapid coalition losing a majority in the Knesset.

Israeli media had quoted officials close to the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that the aim is to hold an election instead of forming a government in the current Knesset.