Netanyahu’s Likud Party slammed Gantz’s move, saying in a statement that “in the midst of a war, Israel needs unity and not division.
“Dissolving the unity government would be a reward for [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar, a capitulation to international pressure and a fatal blow to the efforts to free our hostages,” added the statement.
Earlier this month, Gantz threatened to leave Netanyahu’s coalition if he did not declare a plan for the day after Hamas in Gaza.
“I look you in the eyes tonight and tell you: The choice is in your hands. After talking to you again and again, the moment of truth has come,” said Gantz at the time.
He set a deadline of June 8 for Netanyahu to approve a plan of action for accomplishing what he said were six key strategic goals of the war.
He listed these as: Bringing home the hostages; destroying Hamas, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and establishing Israeli security control there; creating an “international civilian governance mechanism for Gaza” including Palestinians but not P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas or Hamas; returning the residents to the north and rehabilitating the western Negev; advancing normalization with Saudi Arabia; and establishing a new framework for Israelis’ military service.
In April, Gantz said that Israel should go to the polls in September, marking the first time that the center-left politician called for early elections since joining the wartime government in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
