Gantz: Menachem Begin is ‘spinning in his grave’ over Netanyahu’s actions

The late prime minister Menachem Begin, founder of the Likud party, is “spinning in his grave” over the behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz avers, arguing that growing divisions in Israeli society pose a threat to national security.

Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are once again firing rockets and missiles at Israel, “terrorism is hitting us in the heart of the country” and “despite all the military achievements and American backing, Iran is not advancing a nuclear agreement,” he says,

“Anyone who ignores it now is knowingly harming the country’s security,” he continues, slamming Netanyahu for taking action against Israeli institutions.

“Prime Minister, what are you doing? The firing of the head of the Shin Bet, the firing of the attorney general, the return to the coup d’état, talk about the deep state, and working against the state institutions, the passage of the evasion law and the evasion budgets are how we tear the people apart and give a gift to our enemies,” Gantz continues.

“Instead of taking advantage of the backing we receive from the White House, we are dismantling our own house,” he says, calling on Netanyahu to resign.

“There is no deep state, and we have no other country,” Gantz says, arguing in favor of “a broad, Zionist consensus government.”

“The prime minister said on Friday that there will be no civil war. I remind him that Menachem Begin did not just speak, he acted. He did what was right for the people during the war and his friends paid a bloody price. Netanyahu is not even willing to pay a political price. Begin is spinning in his grave when he sees what Netanyahu says about the supremacy of the law,” Gantz says — promising to “follow Begin’s path.”

In 1948, Begin refused to allow followers of his Irgun militia to fire back at forces loyal to prime minister David Ben Gurion during the sinking of the Altalena, an Irgun arms ship, instead stating that his men would “not raise arms against fellow Jews” and would “not start a civil war, no matter the provocation.”

In an apparent effort to project harmony within the party, National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot addresses the press following Gantz, arguing that, since October 7, “no war aims have been achieved” and that the government is instead “focused on its struggle against the gatekeepers and the justice system.”

Tensions have been growing between Gantz and Eisenkot, who polls show enjoys mounting support to replace Gantz as the head of the National Unity party. According to the Haaretz daily, Eisenkot is seeking to unite center-left parties in the next elections, possibly under his leadership, in a bid to prevent former prime minister Naftali Bennett — widely expected to run — from winning opposition votes.