The former general and Minister of the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz, announced this Sunday (06/09/2024) his resignation from the Emergency Executive created by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, considering that the latter stands in the way of a “true victory “.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from moving towards a true victory. For this reason, today we abandon the Emergency Government, with a heavy heart,” Gantz said in an appearance that should have happened yesterday, but was postponed after the rescue of four hostages in a bombing operation in Gaza that caused the death of more than 270 Gazans.
Gantz’s departure has more symbolic than practical weight, since Netanyahu’s coalition maintains its majority of 64 seats in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), but puts more pressure on the prime minister, as Gantz is now one of the political figures most valued in Israel and even leads most electoral polls.
About two weeks ago, Gantz gave June 8 as a deadline for his party to leave the War Cabinet if it failed to agree on a “comprehensive plan of action” with six objectives: bring the hostages home, overthrow and demilitarize Hamas (considered terrorist by the EU) in Gaza, establish an alternative government in the Strip, guarantee the return of residents on the northern border and forge normalization relations.
Gantz, who before October 7 was on the opposition side, was the only leader to agree to Netanyahu’s request to form a wartime government of national unity and won a position within the smaller War Cabinet than that of the Government and with voting rights, in which in addition to Netanyahu there is also the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.
(efe, afp, reuteers/mn)
