Gantz threatened to leave the Israeli government if there was no new war plan by June 8

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Benny Gantz has threatened to leave the Israeli government if the country does not commit to a new plan for the war with Hamas and its aftermath, in an ultimatum that piles political pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a televised statement on Saturday night, Gantz, an opposition figure and former general who joined Netanyahu’s coalition after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, asked the government to agree to the plan. six-point plan, including a template for post-war Gaza governance, by June 8.

If his demands are not met, Gantz said he would withdraw his centrist National Unity party – which polls show will emerge from new elections as the largest grouping. – from the government.

“The choice is in your hands,” Gantz said, addressing Netanyahu directly. “The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Are you ready to do the right and patriotic thing today?

Netanyahu’s office accused Gantz of choosing to “give the prime minister an ultimatum instead of giving an ultimatum to Hamas.”

“The conditions set by Gantz are empty words whose meaning is clear: an end to the war and defeat for Israel,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Gantz’s ultimatum caused months of tension within Netanyahu’s government over its handling of the war, with Israel still far from achieving its goal of destroying Hamas and freeing the roughly 130 Israeli hostages it still has. detention in Gaza. At the same time, the country is facing fierce international criticism over the skyrocketing number of humanitarian casualties in the attack on Palestinian lands.

The departure of the National Unity party will not automatically topple Netanyahu’s five-party coalition or trigger early elections, as Netanyahu and his far-right and extremist allies will still control 64 seat in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

But it will mark the end of cooperation between the parties after the October 7 attack. It will also make Netanyahu increasingly attentive to the two far-right parties in his coalition, led by the Prime Minister Finance Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Both men demanded that Israel adopt a more forceful approach to the war, as well as push to reestablish Jewish settlements in Gaza – considered illegal by most of the international community – once the war ends.

In the six-point plan he laid out on Saturday, Gantz said that, along with Israel’s security control, an international “civil administration mechanism” for the enclave should be established with the participation of Israel. American, European, Arab and Palestinian.

He also said that the plan should include the return of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza; the defeat of Hamas and its demilitarization; the return of Israelis to the northern areas of the country that have been evacuated since the start of the war; steps toward normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia; and a framework to expand Israel’s military service to attract more radical Jews.

Gantz framed his ultimatum to Netanyahu as a choice between his vision and the vision espoused by Smotrich, Ben-Gvir and their allies. “If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the whole country into the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” he said.

“The people of Israel are watching you. You must choose between Zionism and skepticism, between unity and factionalism, between responsibility and lawlessness, between victory and disaster.”

Netanyahu’s critics have repeatedly accused him of allowing his decision-making regarding the war to be colored by his desire to preserve his coalition, which would collapse if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich left Go.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized Netanyahu for his lack of a post-war plan for Gaza, urging him to put “national priorities above all other considerations, even if there is a possibility must pay a personal or political price.”

Netanyahu has denied accusations that he is putting personal considerations before war and responded to Gallant that any discussion of “the day after” Hamas is “separated from reality” until Israel achieves war. military victory in Gaza.