Gantz accuses Netanyahu of dawdling on war decisions; Likud: It is Gantz who blocked key moves

Former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz issues a video statement urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal as quickly as possible in order to bring home the hostages and let tens of thousands of northern evacuees return to their homes, accusing the premier of dilly-dallying due to political considerations.

“At first, you hesitated on maneuvering [in southern Gaza], then you hesitated on moving the effort to the north, and for months you hesitated to move forward with a hostage outline out of fear for the fate of the coalition,” Gantz claims while touring the northern kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar.

“It is time for you to stop tending to the fate of the government, and only tend to the fate of the country,” he adds. “For once, be brave.”

In response, Netanyahu’s Likud party contends that “the protocols will prove that Gantz is the one who opposed decisions that were critical for the security of Israel, including decisions regarding dramatic military actions” while Gantz was in the decision-making war cabinet before leaving the wartime coalition in June.

Likud claims that the recent assassinations of several terror chiefs are a testimony to the “change of reality” following Gantz’s departure, concluding that “those not contributing to the struggle for victory and the return of the hostages would do better if they at least didn’t do damage.”

National Unity fires back, saying, “Netanyahu knows well why he is trying to alter protocols and refusing to form a state commission of inquiry that will expose the truth: Who was afraid to launch a ground maneuver, who delayed the entry to Khan Younis, and who didn’t want at first to enter the Philadelphi Corridor.”