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Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, dealing a blow to the prime minister who has celebrated the extraordinary rescue of hostages held in Gaza.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from moving forward toward real victory [in Gaza]In a televised statement on Sunday, Gantz said leaving the government was a “complex and painful” decision.
“That is why we leave the emergency government today with heavy hearts but with full hearts,” he said.
Gantz, seen as Netanyahu’s main political rival, said “the situation has changed at home and in policy-making institutions” when asked why he was stepping down eight months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
He accused Netanyahu of prioritizing his own political considerations over a post-war strategy for Gaza, claiming that “fateful strategic decisions are being met with hesitation and postponement due to political considerations,” and urged the prime minister to call elections in the coming months.
“I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to set an agreed election date so that the people are not torn apart,” Gantz said.
Gantz’s decision implements an ultimatum issued last month to the prime minister demanding he present a new plan for the war against Hamas by June 8.
Neil Elias/Reuters
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz addresses the media after announcing his resignation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government on June 9, 2024.
Gantz had been expected to resign on Saturday but postponed the announcement after reports that Israeli forces had rescued four hostages in an operation that Gaza officials said killed more than 270 Palestinians.
Gantz’s resignation contradicts Prime Minister Netanyahu’s call on Saturday for Gantz to stay in Israel’s emergency government, saying now is a time for unity, not division.
“We must remain united to face the enormous challenges before us. I call on Benny Gantz: do not leave the emergency government. Do not give up on unity,” Netanyahu urged Gantz in a Telegram message.
Gantz’s decision does not immediately jeopardize Netanyahu’s government. His party is not part of the prime minister’s coalition, which holds a majority in the 120-seat Knesset with 64 seats. But it means that the war cabinet, formed four days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, has no representation from any party other than Netanyahu’s Likud.
Besides the prime minister, the only other member of the emergency government with decision-making power is Defense Minister Yoav Galant, also of Likud.
Gantz’s decision comes as Prime Minister Netanyahu faces growing calls from Israel’s Western allies and families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip to end the war and release the prisoners.
Eight months into the war, with most of Hamas’ top leaders still at large and more than 100 hostages held in the enclave, Israel has yet to achieve its stated objectives.
Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Palestinian firefighters work to put out a fire in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 9, 2024, the day after Israeli special forces rescued a hostage population.
The United States has repeatedly called on the prime minister to present a concrete post-war plan for Gaza, and US President Joe Biden, who laid out a proposed three-pronged peace deal with Israel last week, suggested Netanyahu likely benefits from a protracted conflict.
Gantz, 64, a former defense minister, said last month that Netanyahu should submit a plan that includes a plan for removing Hamas, returning hostages from Gaza, establishing an alternative government there, returning displaced people from northern Israel and making progress on normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected Gantz’s threats, saying his ultimatum would harm Israel.
In April, Gantz called for early elections as soon as September, ahead of the first anniversary of the war, saying “Israeli society needs to renew its contract with the leadership.”
Opinion polls often show Gantz’s popularity surpasses that of the prime minister: A poll published Friday by the Israeli newspaper Maariv put his approval rating at 42 percent, compared with Netanyahu’s 34 percent.
The war cabinet, of which Gantz was a member, operates independently from the Israeli government as a whole and is responsible for making decisions regarding the fighting in Gaza.
“Gantz joined the government four days after Oct. 7 to balance the far-right and prevent reckless decision-making,” former Israeli diplomat Alon Pincus wrote in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. “He saw himself as the responsible adult in a government full of incompetent, messianic misfits.”
As the war dragged on, with displaced people in northern Israel unable to return home and hostages remaining held in Gaza, Gantz may have realized he would lose popularity by staying in cabinet, Pincus said.
“The longer Gantz stays in power, the weaker he will be,” Pincus wrote. “The more his positions align with those of the prime minister, the more he will lose on both sides: the right will go home and the center will seek other options.”
This is an ongoing story, more to come.
