Gantz threatens to withdraw from the Israeli government if a new war plan is not drawn up by June 8

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Benny Gantz threatened to withdraw from the Israeli government if it did not commit to a new plan for war with Hamas and beyond, in an ultimatum that increases political pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a televised statement on Saturday evening, Gantz, an opposition figure and former general who joined Netanyahu’s coalition after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, called on the government to approve a six-point plan, including a model for governing Gaza after the war, by June 8.

If his demands are not met, Gantz said he would withdraw the centrist National Unity Party – which opinion polls suggest will emerge from the new elections as the largest group – from the government.

Addressing Netanyahu directly, Gantz said: “The choice is in your hands.” “A decade ago Netanyahu would have done the right thing. Are you ready to do the right and patriotic thing today?

Netanyahu’s office accused Gantz of choosing to “issue a final ultimatum to the prime minister instead of issuing a final ultimatum to Hamas.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, “The conditions set by Gantz are washed-up words and their meaning is clear: the end of the war and the defeat of Israel.”

Gantz’s ultimatum culminates months of tensions within Netanyahu’s government over the handling of the war, as Israel remains far from achieving its goals of destroying Hamas and releasing the nearly 130 Israeli hostages it still holds in Gaza. At the same time, it faces intense international criticism due to the high humanitarian losses resulting from its attack on the Palestinian Strip.

The departure of the National Unity Party would not automatically topple Netanyahu’s five-party coalition or lead to early elections, as the prime minister and his far-right and ultra-religious allies would still control 64 seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

But it would mark the end of the cross-party cooperation that followed the October 7 attack. It will also leave Netanyahu increasingly beholden to the two far-right parties in his coalition, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The two men called on Israel to adopt a more aggressive approach to the war, as well as to push for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza – considered illegal in the eyes of most of the international community – once the war is over.

On Sunday, Ben Gvir and Smotrich rallied in support of Netanyahu.

Ben Gvir said: “Benny Gantz is a small leader and a big deceiver. From the first moment when he joined this government, he focused mainly on efforts to dismantle it.” He pointed to Gantz’s trip to Washington earlier this year, and meetings in previous years with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as signs of weakness. It is time to dismantle the advance cabinet and change policy [to one that is] Firm, strong and decisive.”

Smotrich wrote on the social media platform Pressure.” He called on Netanyahu to decide on the necessity of Israel’s complete security control over the Gaza Strip.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who is expected to travel to Israel on Sunday after a stop in Saudi Arabia, is seeking to push the Biden administration’s position that Israel should allow the relatively secular West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to regain control of the Gaza Strip. Strips.

Sullivan and Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the “near-final version” of the large-scale strategic agreements between the Kingdom and the United States, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The agreements, which cover a security agreement between the two countries that includes access to US-made nuclear technology, are part of a broader plan that the United States hopes will lead to Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, and the Jewish state making concessions towards it. Palestinian state.

In the six-point plan he presented on Saturday, Gantz said that, in addition to Israeli security control, an international “civilian governance mechanism” must be established for the Strip with American, European, Arab and Palestinian participation.

He also said that the plan should include the return of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Strip, and the return of Israelis to areas in the north of the country that have been evacuated since the beginning of the war. The war, steps toward normalization with Saudi Arabia, and a framework for expanding Israeli military service to recruit more ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Gantz framed his ultimatum to Netanyahu as a choice between his vision and that embraced by Smotrich, Ben Gvir and their allies. “If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation into the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” he said.

“The people of Israel are watching you. You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and division, between responsibility and lawlessness, between victory and disaster.

Netanyahu’s critics have repeatedly accused him of allowing decision-making regarding the war to be colored by a desire to preserve his coalition, which could collapse if Ben Gvir and Smotrich depart.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Yoav Galant criticized Netanyahu for the lack of a post-war plan for Gaza, urging him to put “national priorities above all other considerations, even at the potential personal or political costs.”

Netanyahu rejected accusations that he was making personal considerations before the war, and said in response to Gallant that any discussion about Hamas’ “day after” is “detached from reality” until Israel achieves a military victory in Gaza.

Additional reporting by Ahmed Al-Omran in Jeddah