Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz resigned on Sunday from the emergency government in a move that will not collapse the coalition but that leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more dependent on his far Right partners.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from moving forward to a real victory,” said Gantz in a press conference designed for the prime-time news hour. “And so today, we are leaving the emergency government with a heavy heart – but with our whole heart.”
“Fateful, strategic decisions are met with hesitance and procrastination due to political considerations,” Gantz added in criticism of the current government’s recent behavior. He called for elections to be held in the fall, urging Netanyahu to set an agreed-upon date for them to occur.
The departure of his National Unity Party, which had entered the government at the start of the war purely due to the emergency nature of the government, is set to impact the small war cabinet of which he and the number two in his party, former IDF chief-of-staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, were members.
Gantz calls for elections
The war will continue for years, said Gantz, telling Israelis that he “will not promise [them] a quick and easy victory. You deserve more than empty promises. But Israel should and must achieve real victory.”
Their departure comes as Netanyahu has given a nod to a three-phase hostage deal, which Gantz supports but which coalition factions Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party oppose. Both of these parties, notably, make up 14 out of the 64 seats that the coalition is comprised of.
Gantz expressed his support for the hostage deal presented by US President Joe Biden while urging Netanyahu to stand behind it. I “demand that the prime minister show the necessary courage to stand behind it and do everything to move it forward,” he stated.
In an apology to the families of the hostages, Gantz said, “We did a lot – but we failed the test. We have not managed to bring many of the hostages home. The responsibility is mine as well.”
He also called for the formation of a national probe to “examine the failures from within and protect from hypocritical attacks from without.” Gantz praised Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling him a brave and determined leader, and telling him that now is the time not only to say what is right, but “to do what is right.”
Netanyahu responded to the announcement saying, “Israel is in an existential war on several fronts. Benny, now is not the time to abandon the fight, it is the time to combine forces.”
“Citizens of Israel, we will keep fighting until victory and until the achievement of all of the goals of the war, first of which is to free all of our hostages and to eliminate Hamas,” Netanyahu proclaimed.
“My door will stay open to any Zionist party that is willing to share the burden and help bring victory over our enemies and ensure the safety of our citizens,” he stressed. Further, Eisenkot addressed Netanyahu in his resignation letter, which was submitted on Sunday.
“Despite my many efforts, alongside my colleagues’, the cabinet led by you has, for a while, avoided making real decisions that are needed to achieve the goals of the war and improve Israel’s strategic stance,” he said.
National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben-Gvir immediately demanded to be added to the war cabinet. “It is time to make brave decisions, to get real deterrence, and to bring security to the South, the North, and all of Israel,” he said.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich criticized the move, saying that it was the wrong one to make in the midst of war. “Benny, when you began to share the burden eight months ago, you did a brave and correct thing,” he said.
“Understanding the importance [of the need of the hour and] despite [our] differences, I agreed to step aside and be left out of managing the war. Since then, I have backed up a number of decisions that I really do not agree with simply because unity is vital to victory,” Smotrich added.
He went on to call on all Zionist party heads to join a unity government “until victory.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid praised the decision saying, “Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot’s decision to leave the government is both justified and important.”
“It’s time to replace this extremist and failing government with a government that will restore security for the people of Israel, bring the hostages home, rebuild the economy, and restore Israel’s international standing,” he said.
Gantz had announced on May 18 that his party would leave the government on June 8 if Netanyahu did not adopt six objectives: Returning the hostages; demolishing Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip; providing a governing alternative in Gaza; returning residents of the North to their homes by September 1 and rehabilitating the western Negev; promoting normalization with Saudi Arabia; and adopting an outline for standardized national service, in which all Israelis will serve their country.
National Unity goes on the offensive
Members of Gantz’s party took steps last week to oppose the government. MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen put forward a bill to form a national committee of inquiry on the events leading up to and during Oct. 7 and on what has transpired since.
In addition, MK Pnina Tamano-Shata put forward a bill to disperse the Knesset, which would lead to an election.
Eliav Breuer and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.