Far-right minister: Gantz joining government would be return to flawed pre-Oct. 7 mindset

Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu says that bringing Benny Gantz into a unity government would lead to repeating the old conceptzia — the flawed security and intelligence mindset that left Israel unprepared for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks.

“When the prime minister is surrounded by people like Benny Gantz, like [former IDF intelligence chief] Aharon Haliva and the like, then in the end he gets dragged into these places,” Eliyahu tells the Kan public broadcaster.

He adds that the outlook of figures like Gantz is what “brought us into the difficult situation we found ourselves in.”

In a separate interview with Israel National News, Eliyahu dismisses Gantz’s call for a temporary unity government, accusing the former defense minister of seeking political gain rather than serving the national interest.

“Benny Gantz is looking for a ladder – not to climb down, but to climb up in [Knesset] seats. I can only pity his situation,” he says. “If he wants to join with humility, he’s welcome. But, at the expense of truth, courage, and victory — no thank you.”

Yesterday, Gantz urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, and Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman to form a six-month unity government to prioritize hostage release and legislation on ultra-Orthodox army enlistment.

Gantz also called for Netanyahu to drop far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who oppose any ceasefire deal. Eliyahu, a member of Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, has previously said Gaza will be “wiped out” and repopulated with Jewish settlements.