Israeli Minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s „emergency government” on Sunday, thus withdrawing the only centrist power from the leader’s right-wing coalition amid a months-long war in Gaza, Reuters reports.
The departure from Gantz’s centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government. However, it could still have a serious impact, leaving Netanyahu to rely on hardline supporters, with no end in sight to the Gaza conflict and a potential escalation of clashes with Lebanese Hezbollah.
Last month, Gantz gave Netanyahu a deadline of June 8 to come up with a clear strategy for Gaza, where Israel launched a devastating military offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas. Netanyahu rejected the ultimatum shortly after it was given.
Additionally, warning that the Gaza war could last for many years, he urged Netanyahu to agree on a fall election date to avoid further internal political strife at a time of national emergency.
On Sunday, Gantz stated that politics overshadow the disastrous strategic decisions in Netanyahu's cabinet. Withdrawing from the government while hostages are still in Gaza and soldiers are fighting there was a painful decision, he said.
"Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing towards a true victory. That is why today we are leaving the emergency government, with heavy hearts but full confidence," Gantz declared in a televised press conference.
Netanyahu reacted in a social media message, telling Gantz that it is not the time to abandon the battlefield.
Netanyahu will depend on ultranationalists
With Gantz's departure, Netanyahu would lose the support of a centrist bloc that helped expand support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and internal pressure after eight months since the start of the Gaza war.
While his coalition still controls 64 out of the 120 seats in parliament, Netanyahu will now have to rely more on the political support of ultranationalist parties, whose leaders have angered Washington even before the war and have since called for a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.
This would likely escalate the already evident tensions in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure in the country, as the months-long military campaign has yet to achieve its stated objectives - the destruction of Hamas and the return of over 100 hostages still in Gaza.
Gantz is Netanyahu's strongest rival
Polls have shown that Gantz, a former army commander and defense minister, is Netanyahu's most formidable political rival, whose image as a "security hawk" was shaken by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
Gantz joined a unity government immediately after October 7, as part of Netanyahu's internal war cabinet, in which only he, Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had votes.
On Sunday, Gantz described Gallant, who clashed with Netanyahu and some ultranationalist ministers, as a courageous leader and asked him to 'do the right thing,' although he did not detail what that meant.
Extreme-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sought Gantz's now vacant place in the war cabinet immediately after the resignation was announced.