Quake hits Israel’s war cabinet
Three members step down
The ultimatum given by “Benny Gantz,” the rival and member of “Benjamin Netanyahu’s” war cabinet, expired. A month ago, Gantz threatened to leave the war cabinet if Netanyahu did not meet his conditions, and he fulfilled his promise.
Gantz, a major Netanyahu rival, former defense minister and leader of the center-right National Unity party, had set a deadline of June 8 for Netanyahu to choose, in his view, between “division and unity” and between “victory and disaster.” Israel’s war cabinet was formed after Hamas’s October 7 operation in the occupied territories. Gantz listed six “strategic objectives,” including ending Hamas’s rule in Gaza and establishing a multinational civilian administration for the region. He asked Netanyahu to clarify how he intended to achieve these goals.
National Unity holds five posts in the emergency cabinet.
The withdrawal of his party also means Gadi Eisenkot, an Israel Defense Forces general and war cabinet observer, and the minister without portfolio, Chili Tropper, are also stepping down.
Gantz is a political rival of Netanyahu and a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
A month ago, Netanyahu explicitly stated he could not accept Gantz’s conditions, especially as extreme members of his cabinet, like Defense Minister “Yoav Gallant,” insisted that Netanyahu should not give in to Gantz. Faced with the choice between the collapse of the war cabinet by Gantz or the exit of his far-right allies from the cabinet, Netanyahu preferred to keep his extremist allies.
With the deadline passed, Gantz announced his resignation at a press conference, stating that Netanyahu “prevents us from achieving true victory.” He urged Netanyahu to hold elections as soon as possible and to form a national investigative committee. Gantz described his decision to leave the war cabinet as painful and called for elections this fall.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid defended Gantz’s decision, stating that Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot’s decision to leave Netanyahu’s “failed cabinet” was correct. Lapid emphasized that it is time for a prudent cabinet to replace this extremist one, restore security, bring back the hostages, and regain our international standing.
Former Defense Minister “Avigdor Lieberman,” a former member of Netanyahu’s cabinet and now the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, called Gantz’s resignation a good but overdue move.