Israeli centrist minister Benny Gantz quits Netanyahu government
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With Israeli minister Benny Gantz (above) gone, PM Benjamin Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in Israel and abroad.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM - Israeli minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government on June 9, withdrawing the only centrist power in the embattled leader’s far-right coalition amid a months-long war in Gaza.
The departure of Mr Gantz’s centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government.
But it could have a serious impact nonetheless, leaving Mr Netanyahu reliant on hardliners, with no end in sight to the Gaza war and a possible escalation in fighting with the Lebanese Hezbollah.
In May, Mr Gantz presented Mr Netanyahu with a June 8 deadline
Mr Netanyahu brushed off the ultimatum soon after it was given.
On June 9, Mr Gantz said politics was clouding fateful strategic decisions in Mr Netanyahu’s Cabinet. Quitting while hostages were still in Gaza and with soldiers fighting there was an excruciating decision, he said.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing towards true victory,” Mr Gantz said in a televised news conference. “That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence.”
Mr Netanyahu responded in a social media post, telling Mr Gantz it was no time to abandon the battle front.
With Mr Gantz gone, Mr Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war.
While his coalition remains in control of 64 of Parliament’s 120 seats, Mr Netanyahu will now have to rely more heavily on the political backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered Washington even before the war and have since called for a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.
This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure at home, with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its stated goals – the destruction of Hamas and the return of more than 100 remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Polls have shown Mr Gantz, a former army commander and defence minister, to be the most formidable political rival to Mr Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the Oct 7 attack by Hamas on Israel
Warning that the conflict in Gaza could take years, Mr Gantz urged Mr Netanyahu to agree on an election date in autumn, to avoid further political infighting at a time of national emergency.
Mr Gantz joined a unity government soon after Oct 7 as part of Mr Netanyahu’s inner war Cabinet where he, Mr Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alone had votes.
On June 9, Mr Gantz described Mr Gallant, who has sparred with Mr Netanyahu and some ultra-nationalist ministers, as a brave leader and called on him “to do the right thing”.
Mr Gantz did not elaborate on what that meant.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Mr Gantz’s now-vacant seat at the war Cabinet soon after the resignation was announced.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement that Mr Gantz was giving Israel’s enemies what they want.
Asked whether he was worried about his departure impacting Israel’s standing abroad, Mr Gantz said Mr Gallant and Mr Netanyahu both know “what should be done”.
“Hopefully, they will stick to what should be done and then it will be okay,” he said. REUTERS
