Gantz vows to ensure government doesn’t collapse before all hostages released in deal
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extremist” government for failing to “formulate a path to overthrow the Hamas regime” in Gaza.
“It’s been over a year and a solution has still not been found on how to deliver humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza without some kind of mediation by Hamas,” the former war cabinet minister says during a speech at Reichman University in Herzliya.
“At the beginning of the war, I laid down principles for the establishment of an international administration that will operate in Gaza on behalf of the moderate Arab countries. We have an opportunity to implement this plan together with the Trump administration [and] we must not miss it,” he continues.
Turning to the current ceasefire-hostage return deal, Gantz reiterates his promise to provide Netanyahu with the backing he needs to keep to the agreement in the face of opposition from his far-right coalition partners.
“My colleagues and I promised a safety net for the return of the hostages and we will stand by it. There is no need to enter the government to ensure that it does not fall. A safety net can also be provided outside the government,” he says.
His party will stand in the way of legislation that exempts the Haredi community from military service and block passage of a budget that is bad for the economy, he says, adding, “But as long as the return of the abductees is really at the center of the action, we will find the solutions so that the government does not fall ‘until the final hostage.'”
A spokesman for Gantz likewise does not provide details on what sort of solutions are available to the National Unity chief.