Opposition leader Benny Gantz, who brought his party into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government after the Oct. 7 attack, announced he was leaving the party on Sunday, accusing Netanyahu of botching the war.
The oddly timed announcement came a day after Netanyahu led an Israeli raid to rescue four hostages in Gaza. Gantz had planned to announce his resignation on Saturday night, but postponed it following the news.
Breitbart News reported in October:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz agreed on Wednesday to form an emergency national unity government while the country’s war with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas continues.
The decision to set aside bitter political differences is significant, as it marks the achievement of one of the goals Netanyahu outlined in his address to the Israeli nation on Monday. Gantz, a former defense minister and IDF general who leads the opposition Blue and White party, had previously vowed to shake up the country if Netanyahu passed judicial reforms (one of which was passed).
But with protests against Prime Minister Netanyahu returning to the streets in parts of Israel in recent weeks, along with protests calling for a hostage deal, Gantz saw it politically advantageous to withdraw.
He had promised to leave by June 8 if his various demands were not met. The Times of Israel report Sunday:
National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz declared that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “preventing us from achieving a real victory” and said his party would follow through on an ultimatum and pull out of the government.
He says that even though “we knew the government was bad”, his party joined the coalition government after October 7 for the good of the country, and that since then strategic considerations have been ignored for political reasons.
The timing of Gantz’s announcement is notable for another reason: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit this week and the Biden administration is pushing for an alternative to Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 64-seat coalition government has enough of a majority to continue governing even without Gantz’s 12 seats.
Recent polls showing Netanyahu’s popularity rising and Gantz’s falling may be another reason for Gantz’s departure from power: his supporters were looking for an alternative, and the longer he stayed in power the less likely he was to offer one.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of his recently published e-book,The Zionist Conspiracy (And How to Join It)” is available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Not Free or Fair: The 2020 US Presidential ElectionHe is the recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship in 2018. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
