Netanyahu asks Gantz not to resign from Israel’s War Cabinet

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked opposition leaderBenny Gantz to reconsider his decision to leavethe emergency government, which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.

“Israel is in an existential war on several fronts. Benny, this is not the time to abandon the campaign — this is the time to join forces,” Netanyahu said in a post on the social platform X.

He also pledged to continue the war against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

“Citizens of Israel, we will continue until victory and the achievement of all the goals of the war, primarily the release of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government on Sunday. According to Reuters, in May, Gantz presented Netanyahu with aJune 8 deadlineto come up with a clear day-after strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been pressing a devastating military offensiveagainst Hamas.

On Sunday, Gantz said politics was clouding fateful strategic decisions in Netanyahu's cabinet. Quitting while hostages were still in Gaza and soldiers fighting there was an excruciating decision, he said.

Polls have shown Gantz, a former army commander and defence minister, to be the most formidable political rival to Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, Reuters adds.

Warning that the conflict in Gaza could take years, Gantz urged Netanyahu to agree on an election date in the autumn, to avoid further political infighting at a time of national emergency.

Gantz joined a unity government soon after Oct. 7 as part of Netanyahu's inner war cabinet where he, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alone had votes.