Centrist minister Benny Gantz throws an ultimatum at Netanyahu | EUROtoday

32 weeks after becoming a member of Government to supply a message of unity and be a part of managing the struggle in opposition to the Islamist group Hamas within the Gaza Strip within the wake of the worst assault in Israel's historical past, the centrist chief Benny Gantz has issued an ultimtum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

To stay within the coalition and be a member of the restricted struggle cupboard, Gantz requested him to decide on “between victory and disaster”, put the nationwide curiosity earlier than the political, and develop and approve an motion plan earlier than June 8 that will result in the success of “six strategic objectives of national importance.”

And I enumerate them. The first three are straight associated to the struggle in opposition to the Islamist militia that he outlined as “existential against evil” and the a lot talked about day after: “Return our kidnapped people home; dismantle the regime of Hamasthe disarmament of the Gaza Strip and ensure Israeli security control; create an American-European-Arab-Palestinian civil administration in the Gaza Strip and that will be the basis of an alternative in the future to Hamas and that is not Mahmoud Abbas.

The other goals of Gantz's plan are the return of the tens of thousands of inhabitants of the north (evacuated since October due to attacks by the Lebanese group Hizbul) before next September 1, legislation related to the recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox (more necessary due to the war) and “the promotion of normalization with Saudi Arabia as a part of a broader motion that can create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world in opposition to Iran and its branches.”

This last objective, which was very close to being achieved before the Hamas terrorist attack, is promoted by the Biden Administration as a way out of the devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu always wanted the normalization of relations with Riyadh as a culmination of the Abraham Accords promoted by the US in 2020 but today it neither wants nor can pay the price to achieve it: the commitment demanded by the Arab country to move towards the two-state solution (Israel and Palestine). If he did so, the two ultranationalist parties, essential for him to return to power after the November 2022 elections, would abandon the coalition, thus precipitating the electoral advance. Something that thousands of Israelis have once again demanded this Saturday night in Tel Aviv and that Bibi tries to avoid by all means, stating that el pas est an en guerra and that it has a stable majority (64 of 120 deputies) even without Gantz's seats.

“While our heroic fighters battle to destroy the Hamas battalions in Rafah, Gantz chooses to situation an ultimatum to the prime minister as an alternative of giving an ultimatum to Hams,” the veteran leader's cabinet responded. According to him, “the circumstances that Gantz exposes have as their actual which means the tip of the struggle and the defeat of Israel.” In other words, reject the ultimatum while some politicians on the nationalist right demand Gantz's immediate departure.

“It is my responsibility to inform the reality to the residents after having stated it repeatedly behind closed doorways: private and political issues started to penetrate the holy place of Israel's safety,” the centrist minister had denounced.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, I look into your eyes tonight and let you know: the selection is in your arms. After speaking to you repeatedly, the second of choice has come. I’ve recognized you for a few years as a frontrunner and patriot.” Israel. You know very well what to do,” he stated earlier than including: “The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Are you capable of doing the right and patriotic thing today too? The people of Israel are watching you. “You should select between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and division, between duty and anarchy, and between victory and catastrophe.”

Gantz justified his entry into the Government by assuring that “for a lot of months, the unity was true, it averted critical errors, it had essential achievements, it returned residence greater than 100 kidnapped individuals and transmitted to our combatants a sense of help and mutual solidarity.” . But he also admitted that in recent times “one thing went improper.”

“No important selections have been made. The acts of management crucial to make sure victory weren’t carried out. A small minority has taken over the command bridge of the Israeli ship and is driving it in direction of a wall of rocks,” he noted, referring to the far-right ministers. Bezalel Smotrish and Itamar Ben Gvir. “If you select to go down the trail of the fanatics and lead your complete nation into the abyss, we must abandon the Government,” he warned.

Gantz hinted that Netanyahu might prefer his political and personal interests to those of Israel days after his successor as defense minister, Yoav Gallant (Likud), did the same. This demanded a strategy for the day after the war in Gaza with the aim of avoiding Hamas control but also an Israeli military administration.

Gantz sent his public ultimatum to Netanyahu shortly before seeing him face to face at the cabinet meeting of a war marked by intense fighting in Jabalia (northern Gaza) and the limited incursion in Rafah (southern Gaza) that may expand in the next few days despite warnings from the US.

One of the reasons why Gantz, the most popular leader in Israel according to polls, justifies his continuity in Netanyahu's coalition is the pressure exerted to achieve the release of kidnapped people within the framework of a ceasefire agreement.

An objective that once again brought together tens of thousands of Israelis this Saturday in the Kidnapped Square in Tel Aviv. After the recent discovery of the bodies of four soldiers in a special Army operation in the Gaza Strip, the number of hostages in the hands of the militias has been reduced to 128. According to Israel, 40 are dead while Hamas raises the number considerably. On October 7, Hamas kidnapped 250 people and murdered 1,200 people. Israel's massive response military offensive has caused at least 35,300 deaths, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, while 279 Israeli soldiers have died since the start of the incursion in late October.

In this sense, Gantz launched a harsh accusation before the television cameras: “While Israeli troopers present supreme bravery on the entrance, a number of the individuals who despatched them into battle behave in a cowardly and irresponsible method.”