As the war in Gaza rages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under increasing domestic pressure when war cabinet minister Benny Gantz resigned from his position on Sunday. The Israeli premier responded to this, saying, “Benny, this is not the time to abandon the battle — this is the time to join forces.”
The former general and minister of defence tendered his resignation from the emergency committee, citing his inability to get Netanyahu’s approval of a post-war Gaza plan that he had demanded in May. “Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing to a real victory. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today with a heavy heart. I call on Netanyahu: set an agreed election date. Don’t let our people be torn apart,” Gantz said.
Interestingly, former army chief and member of Gantz’s party, Gadi Eisenkot, also followed him out of the war cabinet, leaving the body with only three members.
The retirement of the centrist politician is the first significant electoral setback for Netanyahu eight months into the Gaza conflict against Palestinian Hamas militants, although it is not anticipated to topple the coalition government, which is made up of religious and ultra-nationalist parties. However, experts say Netanyahu could now be forced to rely more heavily on his right-wing partners.
Reacting to it, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that he had issued a demand to Netanyahu that he join the war cabinet. However, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slammed Gantz, saying “there is no less stately act than resigning from a government in time of war and as the kidnapped are still dying in the Hamas tunnels.”
(with agency inputs)