From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 5, 2025
Slamming PM for lack of progress in Gaza, Gantz warns public is ‘tired of empty slogans’
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"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel is close to victory in Gaza, but “the public is not stupid, and it is tired of empty slogans,” says National Unity chair Benny Gantz.
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s first weekly faction meeting in the Knesset following the end of the spring recess, Gantz says that while Israel is “indeed winning militarily” and “and has dismantled Hamas as a large, organized, fighting military force,” the “war on terror is not a football game that ends with the final whistle or after a penalty shootout.”
“For over a year and a half, there has been no progress in replacing the Hamas regime, no exile, no demobilization, no evacuation of the population, no solution to bringing in aid without it reaching Hamas, and no promotion of an international administrator for Gaza,” Gantz states, accusing Netanyahu of “playing for time instead of scoring.”
“Military pressure is necessary both for the return of the hostages and for the replacement of the Hamas government,” Gantz says, asking, however, what Netanyahu means when he says he wants to defeat Hamas.
The return of the hostages is “the most urgent goal,” Gantz adds.
“The truth is that we will not wake up one morning and discover that ‘there is no Hamas’ as the prime minister says, but if we continue to procrastinate, we may wake up one morning and discover that we have no living hostages.”
“Unfortunately, the government is busy dividing the people, not winning the war. It is calling up thousands of soldiers while continuing to release the ultra-Orthodox and Arabs from service,” he argues, accusing Netanyahu of fighting with the attorney general and the Shin Bet instead of being focused on external enemies.
Gantz appeals to “patriotic” Likud voters, stating that “what is happening here right now violates your most basic values,” such as “the supremacy of the law.”
“You will put an end to this because your hearts are in the right place. Even if it takes another six months, even if it takes another year, we will go to elections and make things right,” he vows.
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