Gantz says if Likud MKs want Gaza settlements, they must allow IDF to draft enough troops to protect them

While not taking a firm stance on the issue of settling Gaza, National Unity chair Benny Gantz says those in the ruling Likud who back the reestablishment of Israeli communities in the Strip must support an outline for mandatory service in the military that gives it the resources to defend residents in the enclave.

Gantz’s post on X is in response to 10 members of the ruling Likud, including a cabinet minister, who announced they will be participating in a conference tagged “Preparing to Resettle Gaza” scheduled for this Monday in the Gaza border region close to Sderot.

“Netanyahu himself has already said he does not intend to allow the settlement of Gaza,” Gantz writes on X. “But those who anyway support settlement in the Gaza Strip — first of all raise your hand in favor of a [military] service framework that will provide the IDF manpower for its missions, and then go to conferences.”

While not explicit, Gantz is referring to efforts by some in the government to ensure ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva students remain exempt from military service, despite the military’s manpower shortage.

Critics of Gantz’s post respond by charging that his lack of explicit opposition to the goal of reestablishing settlements is tantamount to support of such a policy.