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Monday, July 21, 2025
Gantz says Netanyahu endangering Israel’s security to save his coalition
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party of sacrificing Israel’s security to preserve the coalition, as it moves to oust Likud MK Yuli Edelstein from his post as chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“Any Likud MK who votes to remove Edelstein should first have the courage to look our combat soldiers in the eye and tell them that’s what he’s doing,” Gantz says, speaking to the press prior to a faction meeting. “It’s not Edelstein being sacrificed — it’s Israel’s security, which has been abandoned for nearly two years in the fight over the draft.”
Edelstein, a senior Likud figure, opposes the government’s proposed draft exemption law for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students — a key demand of Haredi parties. United Torah Judaism and Shas have already quit the government over the law’s delay, though Shas continues to vote with the government.
Gantz warns the coalition is sending the wrong message to young people preparing to enlist and to exhausted reservists still returning to the battlefield.
Slamming the government for “cowardice” and for failing to advance a genuine military service framework, he also criticizes its wartime priorities, saying it focuses on political survival instead of helping civilians and soldiers.
The Times of Israel Community.