War Cabinet member Benny Gantz gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum on Saturday, threatening to leave the emergency government in case his conditions are not met by next month, as the occupation entity falls deeper into political divisions amid a lack of achievements in Gaza after 8 months of the genocidal war.
In a televised statement, Gantz, who is a prominent figure in the opposition led by Yair Lapid, said that “something [is] wrong” in the war cabinet and that it is a shell of what it was in the early days after launching the war on Gaza last October.
Recently, he said, “crucial decisions were not made,” and the “acts of leadership needed to guarantee victory were not made.”
“A small minority took over the bridge of the Israeli ship, and is sailing it toward a wall of rocks,” he said, referring to Netanyahu and right-wing extremists, Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The opposition official laid out a six-point roadmap to be addressed and approved by June 8, or else he would resign from the cabinet.
According to Gantz, the government must devise “a comprehensive plan of action with six objectives: the return of our hostages, the dissolution of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Strip, and the establishment of a governing alternative in Gaza.” Additionally, it must include “the return of the residents of the north by September 1, the promotion of normalization [with Saudi Arabia], and the adoption of the Israeli military service outline,” referring to a law forcing military conscription on ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Either ‘Zionism or cynicism’
Elsewhere in his statement, Gantz promised to give Israelis “a horizon of hope” and to “restore Israel’s strength.”
But in the meantime, he joined other senior officials lately warning of the possibility of a “long and harsh existential war — even harder than we have known to date.”
Addressing Netanyahu, Gantz said in a challenging manner, “I am looking in your eyes tonight, and I say to you – the choice is in your hands. After I spoke with you repeatedly, the moment of truth has arrived. The hour of decision has arrived.”
He added that he had known the prime minister for a long time as “a leader and an Israeli patriot, who knows well what must be done.”
“The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done it,” he said. “Can you do the right and patriotic thing today?”
Today, Netanyahu must choose “between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and divisiveness, between responsibility and neglect, and between victory and disaster,” Gantz said, adding that his party will join in as partners if the premier chooses “the national interest over the personal in the footsteps of Herzl, Ben-Gurion, Begin and Rabin.”
“But if you choose the path of the zealots and lead the whole state into the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” he warned. “We will turn to the people and form a government that will win the trust of the people.”
“We face challenges that we have not known since the War of Independence,” he said but claimed the occupation can prevail.
He also reiterated his support for early elections, which are now scheduled for 2026
Source: AlMayadeen
