Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, will travel to the United States on Sunday, March 2, 2024, for meetings with US officials without notifying and coordinating with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a move that may signal an end to Netanyahu’s era.
This Saturday, the Hebrew news agency of Ynet reported that Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet is going to travel to the United States to meet with a number of US officials. This is while he didn’t notify or ask permission from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rebuking Gantz for his unexpected move, Netanyahu’s office reportedly issued a statement and said that government regulations “require every minister to approve his travel in advance with the prime minister, including approval of the travel plan,” adding that “the prime minister made it clear to minister Gantz that the State of Israel has only one prime minister.” Gantz is also expected to travel to London after leaving Washington.
What makes matters worse for Netanyahu is that in the past few weeks the US president Joe Biden has asserted several times and more clearly than before that he is getting disappointed and is losing patience with Netanyahu over his management of the war in Gaza and refusal to plan for a postwar government of the enclave.
Israelis are now more disappointed with Netanyahu than any time before!
The war in Gaza has in fact been a leading cause for Netanyahu’s loss of popularity both among Israeli officials and Israeli people. To read between the lines, Israel’s government and war cabinet have been split in recent weeks on how to proceed in ongoing hostage release and cease-fire negotiations led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, and have taken quite opposing views compared to those taken by Netanyahu.
The case is the same with Israeli people. On this Friday, more than 1,000 people, including families of hostages held in Gaza, held a massive protest for the third day toward Jerusalem, calling on the government to reach a deal for their release.
When it comes to the common people in Israel, Netanyahu is also unpopular. Many surveys conducted in Israel to ask Israelis about their electoral preferences if elections were held confirm this very fact. Most polls consistently show that Gantz’s National Unity would receive parliamentary representation of up to 40 seats if an early election is held in Israel.
This is while the Likud Party, which is currently in power under Netanyahu’s rule, will shrink electorally to only 17 seats and the current government’s coalition will win 45 seats, while the partners of the previous government that was headed by Yair Lapid will obtain 71 seats. This is an unprecedented result for an electoral list since the 1992 elections.
For the past two decades, Netanyahu has been the most prominent political figure in Israel. He served as prime minister for the longest period in the history of the political system, exceeding that of the founder of the state, David Ben-Gurion. But the war in Gaza is changing everything. Netanyahu’s popularity is decreasing on an unprecedented scale and Gantz’s travel to Washington without Netanyahu’s approval might be a stepping stone that can ultimately lead to his removal way sooner than expected.
