Israeli cabinet member Benny Gantz has resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu's government, just weeks after threatening to leave over a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Gantz, a minister without portfolio, accused Netanyahu in a televised statement of 'preventing us from approaching true victory.'
Despite his harsh criticism of the Israeli prime minister, he added: 'Leaving the government is a complex and painful decision.'
The statement he gave today was delayed after Israel announced the IDF had rescued four hostages from the Gaza Strip.
In May, he publicly gave Netanyahu a deadline of June 8 to form a clear day-after plan for what to do with the Gaza Strip once the bloodiest conflict in the Middle East in decades came to an end.
Netanyahu called on Gantz yesterday not to resign, saying via a Telegram channel: 'We must remain united within ourselves in the face of the great tasks before us. I call on Benny Gantz – do not leave the emergency government. Don’t give up on unity.'
Benny Gantz (pictured) said in a televised statement: 'Leaving the government is a complex and painful decision.'Gantz, a minister without portfolio, said in a televised statement: 'Leaving the government is a complex and painful decision.'
Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, claiming he wanted to hand power to the people living in the enclave
Gantz called for an international, Arab and Palestinian administration to govern the Gaza Strip, and was joined by defence minister Yoav Gallant at the time.
Netanyahu ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, claiming he wanted to hand power to the people living in the enclave.
He added that he was ruling out any such plans until Hamas has been defeated, and has long been opposed to Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu said following Gantz's ultimatum in May that his political rival's plan would amount to 'defeat for Israel, abandoning most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and establishing a Palestinian state.'
Netanyahu added, however, that he still thought the emergency government was important for Israel's war effort, and that he 'expects Gantz to clarify his positions to the public.'
Gantz, the head of the Israel Resilience Party which he founded in 2018, holds just six out of the 120 total seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
But the centrist party has become a keystone in Netanyahu's already-precarious coalition government, which, including the IRP, controls 64, or just over half, of the seats.
Netanyahu may now have to rely on the political backing of the ultra-nationalist parties that remain in government, whose leaders have angered Israel's international allies for their extreme stances on what to do in the Gaza Strip.
Gantz announced he was joining the war cabinet shortly after October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched a surprise incursion into Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, claiming he was putting political differences aside to help his nation.
Hamas took some 250 hostages during the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people.
About half were released in a week-long ceasefire in November.
About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead.
At least 36,700 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.