Israel’s former army chief Benny Gantz stepping away from the war cabinet surprised few observers on Sunday. For weeks, the leader of the Blue and White party tied his stay in the emergency government to a plan for a post-war Gaza led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader has pressed ahead on his own path, and Gantz has said farewell. While the resignation carries more symbolic weight than immediate practical impact, many around Israel and abroad are beginning to tremble. Without the most moderate member of the war cabinet, Netanyahu is left with only his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and the prospects that the ultranationalist partners in the governing coalition will dictate the next horizons to conquer in this war.
As this was a cabinet formed after the October 7 attacks, operating in parallel to a coalition government also led by Netanyahu with far-right figures, the prime minister has not lost his majority. Unlike opposition leader Yair Lapid, Gantz joined the new government with one condition: ultraconservative ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir would not participate in deliberations. In a bid to project national unity after the assault and months of street protests, Netanyahu agreed and created the war cabinet alongside Gantz and Gallant, with senior military figures serving as observers. Two of those observers also resigned this Sunday.
Future in the Air
“Gantz gave Netanyahu a security net after October 7 in return for keeping the major decisions out of the far right’s reach, but his role in the government was largely a scapegoat for the war’s stalemate,” contends analyst Anshel Pfeffer in Haaretz. “Now the security net has disappeared, and Israel’s immediate future is completely uncertain.” In practical terms, the prime minister can continue to govern since he retains authority in a coalition that holds a 64-seat majority in the Knesset. Moreover, extremist ministers assured Netanyahu they would vote with the coalition again in the legislature.
Yet in the streets, much of Israeli society has expressed opposition to this political alignment. From the start of the war and during months of widespread protests, Gantz has been the preferred figure among the public. Aware of his popularity, the ex-war cabinet member pressed Netanyahu to call elections in the autumn and urged Gallant to “do the right thing” and resign from government. While some people want elections, it seems unlikely the prime minister will call new votes that could spell the end of his term. “Gantz’s departure impacts Netanyahu’s legitimacy both at home and on the international stage,” Avi Mayer, former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, told CNN.
Preoccupation in Washington has grown as well. “Gantz’s presence in the war cabinet gave him legitimacy, a sense of national consensus, and his exit removes that,” one official noted. Netanyahu now depends more heavily on conservative ministers. Several diplomats told Haaretz that having Gantz and former general and war cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot helped Israel fend off international pressure and persuaded influential European countries not to adopt a punitive stance. “It will be harder to maintain that backing from Western governments now,” explained one diplomat, adding that Gallant remains the only trusted ally in the war cabinet.
Even before the war, Western governments had expressed concern about Netanyahu’s ties with ultranationalist figures, and that concern has only intensified as a large-scale operation continues to claim lives in Gaza. In Washington, Gantz had been a preferred interlocutor. With his decision, the ex-general informed the White House before Israeli society. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel and plans to meet with Gantz. For the Biden administration, the path forward is cloudier than ever, to the point where some reports suggest a possible agreement with Hamas that would not include Israel in the effort to free five hostages with U.S. nationality.