From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Opposition chiefs urge Netanyahu to follow Halevi’s lead and resign
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"
The heads of the Knesset’s opposition parties call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to follow IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi’s example and resign.
“I salute…Herzi Halevi. Now let the prime minister and his entire disastrous government take responsibility and resign,” tweets Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
“After the resignation of the [IDF] chief of staff, I call on the prime minister and the other members of the cabinet to take responsibility and follow him home,” says Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
“Thank you, Herzi. Netanyahu, now it’s your turn,” says The Democrats’ Yair Golan.
Halevi is “first and foremost a warrior” who “fought for the country his entire adult life,” says National Unity chief Benny Gantz, himself a former IDF chief of staff.
“The chief of staff is responsible for the [military failures that led to the] October 7 disaster and is also responsible for the IDF’s tremendous recovery,” he tweets. “He took responsibility from the first moment, exercised it on the battlefield and is now also exercising his public responsibility in a manner worthy of appreciation.”
Gantz calls on Netanyahu to establish a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and to “lead the State of Israel to elections so that a government can be established that will regain the public’s trust.”
