Benny Gantz, a minister in the Israeli war cabinet, announced his resignation from the government after the deadline he set for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make strategic decisions regarding the war on the Gaza Strip expired. In his statement, Gantz explained: “Our participation in the War Cabinet was for common destiny and not a political partnership, and leaving the government is a complex and painful decision. Today we leave the emergency government with a heavy heart.”
In his resignation statement, Gantz emphasised that ‘Netanyahu is obstructing important strategic decisions for political considerations,’ stressing that ‘our withdrawal from this government comes because Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing towards real victory.’
The former minister in the War Cabinet also indicated that he ‘supports the deal offered by US President Joe Biden, who asked the Prime Minister to have the courage to make it work.’ He told the families of the prisoners: ‘We failed the exam and were unable to return your sons, and all efforts must be made for the deal offered to recover the kidnappers.’
Gantz added: ‘The war in Gaza is long and will continue, and I call on Defence Minister Yoav Galant to be brave and make the right decisions.’ He also called on Netanyahu to call for elections as soon as possible and form a national investigation committee, stressing the need for elections to bring in a government of true national unity.
Netanyahu called on Benny Gantz, head of the National Camp bloc, to reverse his decision to withdraw from Israel’s emergency government formed in the wake of the war on Gaza, calling on him not to compromise on unity. Netanyahu emphasised in a brief statement on his social media accounts: “This is a time of unity, not a time of division. We must remain united in the face of the great tasks ahead of us. I call on Benny Gantz: Don’t abandon the emergency government, don’t abandon unity.”
From the website: FasNews