Israeli politician and former army commander Benny Gantz has made good on his threat to resign from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet, leaving him more reliant than ever on the far-right wing of his coalition government.
Netanyahu’s main rival, Gantz, a former defense minister and leader of the center-right National Unity Party, joined the three-member war cabinet as minister without portofolio following the October 7 Hamas attacks. Gantz said the move was in the interest of national unity.
But as Israel’s war in Gaza dragged on, differences emerged over strategy and how best to repatriate the 250 Israeli hostages, with Gantz accusing the prime minister of ignoring strategic considerations for his own political survival and giving him an ultimatum to present a concrete “next day” plan for the Gaza Strip by June 8.
Gantz postponed his resignation by a day following the unexpected rescue of four Israeli hostages in an operation announced by the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry. His party’s departure also means that Gadi Eisenkot, a general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and oversight officer in the war cabinet, will resign.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is preventing us from moving forward toward real victory,” he said in a televised address Sunday night. “And so it is with heavy hearts but in our hearts that we leave the emergency government today.”
Gantz also called on Netanyahu to set a date for elections, adding that “our country must not be divided.”
The move poses no immediate threat to Netanyahu, who still has a majority coalition in parliament, but it does affect the Israeli government’s reputation on the international stage. Gantz was well-liked in Washington and seen as an effective brake on Netanyahu. Gantz’s absence means the prime minister’s far-right alliance is likely to have more influence over the course of the Gaza war and the growing threat of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The extremist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has already asked Prime Minister Netanyahu to join Gantz’s war cabinet.
Netanyahu joined X in response to Gantz’s announcement, saying now was the time to “join forces” rather than retreat.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said “the decision of Gantz and Eisenkot to leave the failed government is important and right.”
“The time has come to replace this extreme and reckless government with a sane government that will restore safety to the Israeli people, the return of the abducted victims, and restore Israel’s economy and international standing,” he added.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant are the only two remaining members of the war cabinet, but they often disagree. The prime minister is now said to be considering abolishing the war cabinet and returning to the previous model of discussing security issues in limited forums before bringing them to regular cabinet meetings for ministerial approval.
