Gantz calls on Netanyahu to resign, saying Israel can’t have a ‘half-time prime minister’

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz calls the announcement of bribery and other charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — pending a hearing — a “sad day” for Israel, saying the country can’t have a “half-time prime minister” preoccupied with his own legal defense.

“Don’t forget, the country belongs to all of us,” he says at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “You chose your own benefit over the countries. That is a bad decision.”

He quotes Netanyahu’s remark a decade ago, referring to ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert, that “a prime minister drowning up to his neck in investigations” cannot be expected to make decisions without putting his personal benefit above the country’s.

He calls on Netanyahu to resign.

“I won’t sit [in a government] with Benjamin Netanyahu. Benjamin Netanyahu, I appeal to you from here tonight: Show national responsibility, and resign from your position. If and when you can prove your innocence, you can return to public service with your head held high.”