The pressure is building from citizens of Israel for Netanyahu to resign. Large protests have occurred yesterday and today. Interestingly there are three separate groups demanding Netanyahu's resignation in multiple protests. The most predominant is the group demanding the release of hostages via negotiations. The second group are the far-left in Israel who for years simply want Netanyahu gone. The third group is the far-right who are claiming that Netanyahu needs to kill more terrorists faster & quicker without concern for Palestinian civilians. The bottom line is that momentum is building across Israel's population to eject Netanyahu before the war is completed -- now that it has been dragging on for months. Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu protests put political divides back on show https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68705643
The protests against Netanyahu in Israel continue... Tens of thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu as Gaza war reaches six month mark Organisers said about 100,000 people converged at a Tel Aviv crossroads and were later joined by families of Gaza hostages https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-netanyahu-as-gaza-war-reaches-six-month-mark
The pressure from Netanyahu's right-wing coalition partners continues -- they want an immediate active continuation of the military campaign in Gaza to eliminate Hamas. Netanyahu is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Israeli minister threatens to take down Netanyahu if Rafah is not invaded Hardline Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Sunday that he would bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if a planned military ground assault on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip is called off. https://www.tag24.com/topic/israel-...own-netanyahu-if-rafah-is-not-invaded-3173044 April 28, 2024
Member of Israel’s War Cabinet says he’ll quit the government June 8 unless there’s a new war plan https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-war-05-18-2024-3ac9d8e59198d5884d0faa6649a53e4f Benny Gantz, a popular centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet, threatened Saturday to resign from the government if it doesn’t adopt a new plan in three weeks’ time for the war in Gaza, a decision that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on far-right allies. The announcement deepens a divide in Israel’s leadership more than seven months into a war in which Israel has yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages abducted in the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack. Gantz spelled out a six-point plan that includes the return of hostages, ending Hamas’ rule, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and establishing an international administration of civilian affairs with American, European, Arab and Palestinian cooperation. The plan also supports efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia and widen military service to all Israelis. He gave a June 8 deadline. “If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss — we will be forced to quit the government,” he said. Netanyahu in a statement reported by Israeli media responded by saying Gantz had chosen to issue an ultimatum to the prime minister instead of to Hamas, and called his conditions “euphemisms” for Israel’s defeat.
This is more a posturing exercise to drive an election in the fall. Not that electing Gantz would change anything with the campaign in Gaza. With over 80% of Israeli Jews demanding that the government complete the campaign in Gaza and eliminate Hamas as a militant and governing entity there -- any Israeli politician not supporting the campaign fully is doomed to obscurity. Israel War Cabinet member Benny Gantz files motion to dissolve parliament https://www.semafor.com/article/05/...cabinet-motion-to-dissolve-parliament-knesset Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz announced Wednesday his centrist National Unity party has introduced a bill to dissolve the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, which would trigger an early election. It is unclear when lawmakers might vote on the bill, which requires a majority vote to pass. Israeli law stipulates there cannot be another vote for six months if the motion fails. A long-time rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gantz joined the emergency War Cabinet shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. But he has since become increasingly critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, saying that the government has de-prioritized the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages.
If the ultra-Orthodox Jews don't want to do their duty for their country then they should not be getting social welfare benefits from their country. How about that? Israeli doctors threaten to leave country if haredi draft exemption is approved The inequality caused by haredim not serving in the IDF and proposed lengthening of reservist service is causing doctors to begin leaving Israel. https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-804645 Swathes of doctors have threatened to leave Israel due to the refusal by ultra-Orthodox Jews (haredim) to be drafted into the IDF, according to a document published on Sunday. The document was written and signed by a thousand senior doctors, most of whom are the heads of medical centers or departments, and called on the government and members of Knesset to take action for equality by drafting haredim into the IDF. They described the refusal of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community to serve in the military as "destructive to our future." They called for the implementation of a new national socio-economic strategy to help put the country back on a sustainable path to the future. (More at above url)
This will throw a curve ball into the entire situation... IDF to publish Oct. 7 disaster probe in summer, timing impacts Netanyahu, Gantz standoff The probe, which will present findings related to Hamas's October 7 massacre of southern Israel, will include findings dating back to 2018. https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-805098
Israeli minister Benny Gantz resigns from war cabinet in blow to Netanyahu https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/09/midd...tion-post-war-plan-gaza-intl-latam/index.html Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, delivering a blow to the prime minister who has been celebrating the rare rescue of hostages held in Gaza. “Netanyahu prevents us from moving forward to a real victory [in Gaza],” Gantz said in a televised statement Sunday in which he described leaving the government as a “complex and painful” decision. “That is why we are leaving the emergency government today with a heavy heart, but with a whole heart,” he said. Gantz – considered Netanyahu’s main political challenger – said he was quitting eight-months after the October 7 Hamas attacks because “the situation in the country and in the decision-making room has changed.” He accused Netanyahu of putting his own personal political considerations ahead of a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip, claiming that “fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations,” and urged the prime minister to hold an election in the coming months. “I call on Netanyahu: set an agreed election date. Do not let our people be torn apart,” Gantz said. The decision by Gantz fulfils an ultimatum he gave the prime minister last month calling on him to lay out a new plan for the war against Hamas by June 8. Gantz had been expected to resign on Saturday, but postponed the announcement following news that Israeli forces had rescued four hostages in an operation Gazan officials said left more than 270 Palestinians dead. His resignation comes despite Netanyahu calling on Gantz to stay in Israel’s emergency government, saying this is the time for unity, not division. Following Gantz’s announcement, Netanyahu urged him to change his mind. “Benny, this is not the time to abandon the campaign – this is the time to join forces,” Netanyahu said to Gantz in a post on X. “Citizens of Israel, we will continue until victory and all the goals of the war have been achieved, most importantly, the release of all our hostages and the elimination of Hamas,” Netanyahu said. Netanyahu said his door remained open to any political party that is ready to share in the burden of fighting the war against Hamas, and will “help bring victory over our enemies and ensure the security of our citizens.” Gantz’s decision does not put Netanyahu’s government in immediate danger – his party was not part of the prime minister’s coalition, which retains a majority with 64-seats in the 120-member Knesset, Israel’s parliament. It would however leave the war cabinet, set up four days after Hamas’ October 7 attack, without representation from any party other than Netanyahu’s Likud. Besides the prime minister, the only other remaining member of the emergency government with decision-making power is Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, also from Likud. Gantz’ decision comes as Netanyahu faces growing calls from Israel’s Western allies and families of hostages held in Gaza to end the war and bring back the captives. Eight months since the war started, Israel is yet to achieve its stated objectives as most of Hamas’ top leadership remains at large and more than 100 hostages are held in the enclave. The United States has repeatedly called on the prime minister to present a tangible post-war plan for Gaza. US President Joe Biden, who laid out a three-pronged Israeli peace deal proposal last week, has suggested that Netanyahu is likely benefiting from prolonging the conflict. Gantz, a 64-year-old former defense minister, said last month that Netanyahu should submit a plan that should include the elimination of Hamas, the return of hostages from Gaza, the establishment of an alternative government in the enclave, the return of displaced Israelis from the north of the country, and a plan to make progress on normalization with Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu had rejected Gantz’s threat, saying his ultimatum would harm Israel. In April, Gantz called for early elections to be held as soon as September, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war, saying “Israeli society needs to renew its contract with its leadership.” Gantz often surpasses the prime minister in popularity, according to opinion polls. A survey published Friday by the Israeli Maariv newspaper showed support for Gantz at 42%, compared to 34% for Netanyahu. The war cabinet, which Gantz was a member of, operates independently from the broader Israeli government. It is responsible for making decisions related to the fighting in Gaza. “He (Gantz) joined the government four days after October 7 in order to balance things out with the far right, prevent reckless decision-making,” Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, wrote in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. “In his mind, he was the responsible adult in a government filled with inept and messianic misfits.” As the war dragged on, with displaced residents of northern Israel unable to return home and hostages remaining captive in Gaza, Gantz may have realized he would lose popularity by staying in the cabinet, Pinkas said. “The longer Gantz remains in the government, the weaker Gantz will get,” Pinkas wrote. “The more identical his positions are to those of the prime minister, the more he’ll lose on both sides. Right-wingers will return home and centrists will seek other options.” This is a developing story. More to come.
The war cabinet has been disbanded. This effectively means the Israeli government is now somewhat rudderless in oversight of their war effort from a multi-party coalition. Dissolving the war cabinet also allowed Netanyahu to avoid appointing extreme right-wing members to the war cabinet as replacements for Gantz and Eisenkot. The entire situation also adds urgency to the need for new elections to be held. Benjamin Netanyahu disbands Israeli war cabinet https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/17/middleeast/netanyahu-disbands-israeli-war-cabinet-intl/index.html Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved his war cabinet, an Israeli official told CNN Monday, just over a week after opposition leader Benny Gantz withdrew from the body. Decision-making will now move back to the government’s main security cabinet, the Israeli official said, claiming Netanyahu “will hold smaller forums on sensitive matters.” The war cabinet, set up five days after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, had five members: Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, opposition leader Benny Gantz, and two “observers,” Ron Dermer and Gadi Eisenkot. But Gantz – seen as Netanyahu’s most formidable political opponent – announced his “complex and painful” decision to withdraw from the cabinet last week, citing Netanyahu’s failure to devise a strategy for the conflict in Gaza and the future governance of the Strip. “Netanyahu prevents us from moving forward to a real victory [in Gaza],” Gantz said June 9. He accused Netanyahu of putting his own personal political considerations ahead of a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip, claiming that “fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations,” and urged the prime minister to hold an election in the coming months. “I call on Netanyahu: set an agreed election date. Do not let our people be torn apart,” Gantz said. In April, Gantz called for early elections to be held as soon as September, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war, saying “Israeli society needs to renew its contract with its leadership.” The month before, he had traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris in a trip not sanctioned by the Israeli government. Gantz often surpasses the prime minister in popularity, according to opinion polls. A survey published Friday by the Israeli Maariv newspaper showed support for Gantz at 42%, compared to 34% for Netanyahu. Gantz’s resignation sparked calls from far-right members in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to join the war cabinet. Both men were earlier pointedly excluded from the cabinet at Gantz’s behest. By dismantling the cabinet, Netanyahu may have avoided having to accede to Ben-Gvir’s calls to join the cabinet, which could have further strained Israel’s relations with the United States, or having to reject his demands, which could have angered the more extreme wing of Netanyahu’s coalition. Another interpretation is that without Gantz – and Eisenkot who also resigned – in it, there was no longer any point in keeping the war cabinet going. Instead, an Israeli official tells CNN, Netanyahu will in future hold smaller forums to discuss sensitive matters relating to the war with Hamas. It’s unclear whether Ben-Gvir will be excluded from these as well. As National Security Minister, Ben-Gvir attends Israel’s security cabinet alongside 12 other ministers, including Smotrich, Gallant and Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have urged that Israel sustain its assault on Gaza until Hamas is defeated completely, and threatened to topple Netanyahu’s government if he accepts a peace proposal that was first publicly announced by US President Joe Biden last month. After the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday announced a daily “tactical pause” of military activity along a route in southern Gaza to allow aid to be distributed, Ben-Gvir condemned the decision. “Whoever decided on a ‘tactical pause’ for the purpose of a humanitarian transition, especially at a time when the best of our soldiers are falling in battle, is evil and a fool who should not continue to be in his position,” he said.
We already knew that Netanyahu was corrupt. Here is some more fuel for the fire. Qatargate: Leaked documents reveal Doha funds meant for PM Netanyahu There is no evidence that Israel had received any funds from Qatar; only the money was offered. A Likud spokesperson said in response, "These are false and illusory news." https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-808705