Israel war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quits Netanyahu’s government
Al Jazeera
Gantz’s departure will not endanger the parliamentary majority in the Knesset held by the ruling right-wing coalition.
Israeli minister Benny Gantz has announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government, withdrawing the only centrist power in the embattled leader’s far-right coalition, amid a months-long assault on Gaza.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence,” Gantz said at a televised news conference on Sunday.
He called for early elections, saying “there should be elections that will eventually establish a government that will win the trust of the people and be able to face challenges.”
“I call on Netanyahu: set an agreed election date.”
Gantz last month threatened to leave the emergency government – formed last year to oversee the war on Gaza – if Netanyahu failed to present a post-war plan for the besieged and bombarded Palestinian territory, where Israel is continuing a ground and aerial bombardment campaign that has killed more than 37,000 people since October 7, according to Gaza health officials.
