Netanyahu’s top rival left Israel’s war Cabinet. How does that affect the prime minister and Gaza?
Associated PressJERUSALEM — The resignation of a senior member of Israel’s war Cabinet was a dramatic show of distrust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategy for the eight-month-old war with Hamas. Gantz, a centrist who is seen as Netanyahu’s main political opponent, resigned after months of mounting tensions within the war Cabinet over Israel’s strategy in Gaza. He said that “fateful strategic decisions” in the cabinet were being “met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations.” Gantz’s departure from the war Cabinet returns him to his pre-war role of opposition leader in Israel’s parliament. The departure of Gantz, a former defense minister who is widely respected in Washington, will likely embolden and empower Israel’s ultranationalist ministers who have fiercely opposed all cease-fire deals.