Gantz tells Netanyahu to ‘put your money where your mouth is’ on hostage deal

National Unity chief Benny Gantz calls on Benjamin Netanyahu to “put your money where your mouth is” on a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, arguing that the prime minister is delaying an announcement for political reasons.

“The outline we drew up for the return of the hostages in the war cabinet about two months ago,” which was subsequently publicly presented by US President Joe Biden, has been accepted, “could have been advanced weeks ago and it should be implemented in a short period of time,” Gantz tells reporters in the Knesset.

“The hostages do not have another day, and there is not another minute. Since the previous outline, we have lost a quarter of the living hostages,” he says, referring to last November’s ceasefire deal.

“We have a moral obligation to return everyone — the living as well as those who died — to their families. The fact that the Israeli delegation has been waiting without instructions for over a week, because at the political level there are those who are waiting for the recess of the Knesset in order to move forward, is the painful proof that political considerations have penetrated the holy of holies of Israel’s security and issues of life and death.

“Mr. Prime Minister, if you stand behind the outline we agreed on together” then it is time to “put your money where your mouth is,” he says, switching briefly to English.

“If you do not intend to return the hostages, because you think the plan is not good enough, and cannot guarantee Israel’s security: stand up to the citizens of Israel and tell them the truth – however complex, difficult and painful it may be. Political consideration must not come before the security of the country, its resilience, and the return of the hostages.”

But Netanyahu “will receive full backing from the people, and political backing as well” if he approves the outline, allowing Israel to pivot to restoring security in the north, Gantz continues.

He calls on Netanyahu to work to return the displaced residents of the north to their homes after this fall’s High Holidays, and argues that it is a security imperative to replace Hamas with an international administration in Gaza while building a regional alliance to stop Iran, which “is advancing toward nuclear weapons and striving for regional hegemony.”

However, instead the coalition is instead busy with bills rolling back reforms on kosher phones and granting additional authority to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, he continues, complaining that the ultranationalist politician is “knowingly endangering the security of the country with irresponsible statements, and the Prime Minister is negotiating with him about entering the Holy of Holies of Israel’s security.”

Ben Gvir, who this morning claimed that Jewish prayer is now allowed on the Temple Mount, has been pushing for inclusion in a proposed high-level decision-making body to manage the war in Gaza.