Benny Gantz is not holding back and is putting Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Yair Lapid in focus as he campaigns for the upcoming election. The standout comments had less to do with attacking Netanyahu, and more to do with separating himself from Lapid by panning the notion of a two-state solution.
Israel's former Israel Defense Force Chief Of Staff and current Minister of Defense strongly condemned Netanyahu, the leader of the opposition and specifically his 'radical' colleagues in an interview with Israeli reporters as reported by the news site, Mako. “It will be an extreme government that will drag the country to the brink and further radicalization - I will not be a party to such a thing," said Gantz.
Gantz claimed that after the elections he is the only one who will be able to establish a broad unity government: "Netanyahu wants a narrow government based on 61 mandates, I want a broad and state unity government based on 71 Knesset members. As soon as Netanyahu does not have a government all the cards will be opened again. We have already seen how people sit together, even though they thought they would never sit together. The point is our ability to connect and talk with everyone."
Benny Gantz and Amir Gantz destroyed the possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And they're proud of their achievement. Tell me again how the left is pro-peace and generals are objective professionals.https://t.co/SufHfXYOlf
— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) October 1, 2022
When asked if he would agree to sit first in the rotation with Netanyahu, or agree to enter the government under Netanyahu to prevent Ben Gvir from serving as a minister, Gantz firmly denied it: "I have already been offered to be prime minister and I said no. Netanyahu has severely damaged Israeli statehood, so there is no possibility for me to sit with Netanyahu, not from a state point of view and not from a political point of view. It won't happen.
Gantz suggests Palestinians would have an entity, not a whole state - a ‘2 entity situation’ instead of a ‘2 state solution’… https://t.co/c5fL3YH2qy
— Jodie Cohen (@JodieCohen613) September 27, 2022
“Netanyahu's credibility is over - he needs to liberate the State of Israel. We have 3 options - either an extreme Netanyahu government or a unity government led by me or endless elections."
The highlight of his remarks had to do with something Israeli leaders have endorsed since Yitzhak Rabin, despite few ever believing it to become reality. Most recently, in his speech at the UN Assembly, Prime Minister Lapid expressed support for the two-state solution. Within Gantz's own party, Gadi Eizenkot also supports the idea, while Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemns the idea as 'foolish'. Gantz surprised by publicly disagreeing with the formation of a Palestinian state, "I think that Lapid gave an important speech, and it was a good speech. We see eye to eye on the historical issue of the State of Israel and the Iranian issue, but we disagree on the Palestinian issue."
Palestinians upset that Abbas gave New Year greetings to Herzog, Gantz: On Monday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas sent Rosh Hashanah greetings to Israel's President Isaac Herzog and to Defense Minister Benny Gantz. (For some… https://t.co/2uJKyvhabQ ElderofZiyon
— Jewish Community (@JComm_BlogFeeds) September 29, 2022
Speaking to his position, Gantz said "I think you can not rely on dreams. We need to remain a Jewish, democratic and safe state, and therefore, we need to regulate relations with the Palestinians - given that it is currently impossible to reach a permanent settlement, we call for the reduction of the conflict. In my estimation, most Israelis do not want to control the Palestinians, and in my understanding, all Israelis are not ready, and rightfully so, to take a security risk with a Palestinian state, so these two things need to be worked on," Gantz added.
The public rebuke of a longstanding talking point meant to appease an international audience more than the Israeli public-at-large is new for Gantz, and a sign that he is now trying to appeal to a large part of Netanyahu's base, most of whom are not radical, but skeptical that the Palestinians have any interest in living in peace alongside Israel, given their consistent calls to reclaim 'all occupied land, from the river to the sea'.
