Outside the war cabinet. Outside the government. Benny Gantz is back where he was at the start of the war that Hamas launched on October 7: a former defense minister, former chief of staff – and Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu’s main political rival.
You can’t say he didn’t warn you. On May 18, he announced that if Netanyahu did not create a coherent plan to bring home the hostages and the government of a post-war Gaza (among other things), he would leave the war cabinet on June 8. In light of Saturday’s rescue of four Israeli hostages, he was slow to carry out his threat. But the delay was only one day.
“Leaving the government is a complex and painful decision,” Gantz said in a televised statement on Sunday night (9) in Israel.
“Netanyahu prevents us from moving towards real victory [em Gaza]. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today with a heavy heart, but with a whole heart.”
And now? The three most pressing areas of interest where Gantz’s resignation could be felt – at least for Israelis, the Palestinians in Gaza and the outside world – are the Israeli government, the conduct of the war with Hamas and Gantz’s political prospects.
Perhaps the most important impact of Gantz’s departure is what it won’t have: It won’t cause the government to collapse.
“Benny Gantz is in trouble,” former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller told CNN on the Sunday before Gantz’s resignation.
“He would like to remain in government, he brings a kind of moderating hand, but he doesn’t have the potential right now to overthrow the government.”
That’s because Netanyahu and his coalition partners still have 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
So unless US President Joe Biden’s – sorry, Israel’s – hostage deal is made, and Netanyahu’s far-right ministers make good on their threats to leave the government in what they say they would see as the surrender of Israel to Hamas, so Netanyahu could safely remain in office until elections are scheduled for October 2026 (opinion polls suggest that, if held now, Gantz would win).
For the Palestinians in Gaza, a Gantz-free government means that, at best, things will not get worse.
The “moderating” hand of Gantz that Miller refers to seems unlikely to have resulted in Israel acting “softer” on Hamas, or causing fewer civilian casualties than did occur.
Gantz is not a person inclined to peaceful and conciliatory approaches. Neither is the third member of the war cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
But both Gantz and Gallant have no qualms about publicly disagreeing with Netanyahu (Gantz once agreed to alternate the role of prime minister with Netanyahu, only for the latter to block passage of the budget so the government would collapse and Gantz would not take over as prime minister; Gallant was fired and then reinstated last year after asking Netanyahu to pause his controversial judicial reform).
And so, if a hostage deal that was acceptable to them – but which could cause Netanyahu’s coalition partners to flee – appeared on the table, only for Bibi to block it for personal reasons, they might have been able to confront it. it.
With Gantz gone, that seems less likely — as does the likelihood of a hostage deal being consummated soon.
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
