Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Gadi Eisenkot (left) and Benny Gantz at the launch of the new National Unity party, August 14, 2022, in Kfar Maccabiah. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90/ Filee)
Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, two former army heads who now sit in the Knesset opposition, will deliver a televised address later tonight responding to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Israel cannot agree to a hostage deal if it means pulling troops from the Gaza-Egypt border.
Gantz, who heads the National Unity Party, and Eisenkot, a party MK, will make the case for a hostage deal in what is widely seen as a rejoinder to a televised address from Netanyahu arguing that Israel must remain in control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor to prevent smuggling of weapons into the Strip, or people out of it.
The two say they plan to “disprove Netanyahu’s claims and expose the truth about the Philadelphi Corridor and the hostages,” Channel 12 reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz at a ceremony in honor of incoming IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (not seen) at the PM’s office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
According to Gantz’s office, he will argue that Israel can return to the Philadelphi Corridor if needed, but time is running out to save the hostages.
Gantz was the IDF’s chief of staff from 2011 to 2015, and was followed by Eisenkot, who served in the role until 2019, a period that coincides with the lion’s share of Netanyahu’s time in power.
The two were part of the war cabinet until June, when National Unity pulled out of the governing coalition to protest Netanyahu’s handling of the issue.
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Tuesday, September 3, 2024
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