Netanyahu rival offers political truce to help secure Gaza hostage deal
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People protesting in Tel Aviv on Aug 23 for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by militant group Hamas..
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
- Mr Benny Gantz urges Mr Benjamin Netanyahu to form a unity government with the opposition to secure the release of hostages.
- Mr Gantz's proposal aims to bypass far-right parties opposing a deal with Hamas.
- Mr Netanyahu's coalition government faces a collapse risk amid pressure to end the war.
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TEL AVIV – Israeli former defence minister Benny Gantz on Aug 23 called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forge a unity government along with members of the opposition in a bid to help release the hostages held in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on support from far-right members who oppose ending the war and making any deal with Palestinian group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel
Mr Gantz, a rival of Mr Netanyahu who joined his government in the early days of the war, proposed a temporary coalition that would side-step far-right parties and strike a hostage release deal.
“I am here on behalf of the hostages who have no voice. I am here for the soldiers who are crying out, and whom no one in this government is listening to,” Mr Gantz told a televised press conference.
“The duty of our state is first and foremost to save the lives of Jews and all citizens,” added Mr Gantz, calling on fellow opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman to consider the offer.
Both opposition chief Mr Lapid and Mr Lieberman have previously rejected joining any Netanyahu-led government.
Mr Netanyahu’s coalition faces a risk of collapse after the Parliament’s summer recess ends, following a loss of support from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties
Growing protests
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Mr Netanyahu’s ruling coalition who could be sidelined if Mr Gantz’s plan succeeds, was quick to dismiss it.
“Right-wing voters chose a right-wing policy – not Gantz’s policy, not a centrist government, not surrender deals with Hamas, but yes to absolute victory,” Mr Ben Gvir said in a statement.
The government has faced increasing domestic pressure to secure an end to the war, with mass protests calling for a deal that would see the hostages released.
Earlier last week, Mr Netanyahu said he ordered negotiations aimed at freeing the remaining hostages, adding that the diplomatic push would accompany a new offensive to take control of Gaza City.
The plan to expand the offensive in Gaza, which Mr Netanyahu’s security Cabinet approved earlier in August, has been met with opposition in Israel over concerns for the fate of the hostages.
It has sparked fears that the onslaught would exacerbate already dire conditions on the ground after more than 22 months of war.
International mediators have been waiting for days for an Israeli response to their latest ceasefire proposal, which Hamas accepted earlier last week.
On Aug 23, thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Mr Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod is held in Gaza, said “instead of saving lives, Netanyahu is sentencing the living hostages to death and causing the fallen to be lost forever”.
Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas’ 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military said are dead.
Palestinian militants also hold the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a 2014 war. AFP
