Gantz leaves Israeli government’s war cabinet

June 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The leader of the Israeli National Unity party, Benny Gantz, announced this Sunday that he is leaving the war cabinet of the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to what he considers to be the lack of a clear strategy to end the military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Gantz appeared at a press conference and singled out Netanyahu for “preventing us from achieving a true victory.” He also recalled that he joined the coalition after the attacks of October 7 for the good of the country even though “we knew it was a bad government.” Since then he has witnessed strategic considerations being discarded “for political reasons.”

The Israeli people deserve more than “empty promises” and have argued that “real victory” means the return of the hostages, the replacement of Hamas in the Gaza government and the creation of a regional alliance against Iran. “Unfortunately Netanyahu prevents us from achieving a real victory,” he stressed.

For all these reasons, he has requested the calling of early elections for the fall and has demanded that it be on a consensual date and has expressed his support for the proposed agreement for the release of the hostages proposed by the US president, Joe Biden.

Gantz has also called for the creation of a commission of inquiry to “examine internal failures and protect against critical attacks from abroad.”

Gantz complies with his resignation with the threat he posed in the form of an ultimatum to Netanyahu to propose an end to the war. Gantz’s party was not formally part of Netanyahu’s coalition, which continues to have the necessary support to be able to maintain the majority in the Knesset or Israeli Parliament.