Israel between far-right coalition and Gaza cease-fire

Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz resigned from the emergency government, dealing a decisive blow which is expected to entrench Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deeper into a far-right support base that opposes a cease-fire in Gaza.

A former chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, centrist Gantz co-founded and led the National Unity party that joined Netanyahu’s emergency government after the outbreak of the Gaza war. He withdrew his party from the coalition after Netanyahu missed a June 8 deadline to present a concrete plan for the Gaza enclave’s post-war governance.

Netanyahu has previously floated “day-after” provisions for the Gaza Strip that included Israel’s “responsibility of overall security” of the territory and a stalwart rejection of splintering it into a separate Palestinian state.

Gantz announced his resignation on Sunday, just as Netanyahu celebrated the rare rescue of four hostages taken captive during the Oct. 7 terror attack perpetrated by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which triggered Israel’s retaliatory Gaza campaign.

“Regrettably, Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory, which is the justification for the ongoing and painful cost (for war). That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence,” Gantz said, according to Reuters-translated video footage.

“I was very privileged, together with my friends, to bring to the cabinet room all the experience we had. I know other people are staying there. Mainly, you have [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant. And the prime minister himself. They know what should be done. Hopefully, they will stick to what should be done – then it will be OK,” Gantz added.

On Saturday, Netanyahu had taken to social media to entreat Gantz to remain in the emergency government, stressing “this is the time for unity and not for division,” according to a Google translation.

Current opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the decision of Gantz and of his ally Gadi Eisenkot to leave the emergency government as “important and right.”

“The time has come to replace this extreme and promiscuous government with a sane government that will lead to the return of security to the citizens of Israel, to the return of the abducted, to the restoration of Israel’s economy and international status,” Lapid said in a Google-translated social media post.

Gantz’s withdrawal comes at a tenuous time for Netanyahu’s government, which faces rising domestic discontent over the war management and efforts to retrieve the dozens of hostages that are believed to remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Israel has also drawn international criticism over the proportionality of its military response and the risk to Palestinian civilians — including an order from the U.N.’s top…