Opposition leader demands strategy to free hostages, end Hamas rule by June 8
A senior Israeli opposition figure has issued a stark ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – deliver a comprehensive new proposal to secure the release of captive Israelis and dismantle Hamas‘ control of Gaza by early June, or he will resign from the government’s three-man security cabinet.
Benny Gantz, the leader of the centrist Blue and White party who serves as defense minister in the ruling coalition, declared on Saturday that Netanyahu must put forward a credible plan to resolve the years-long crisis in Gaza by June 8th. If the prime minister fails to meet that deadline, Gantz vowed to immediately withdraw his party from the unity government, severely undermining Netanyahu’s grip on power.
“If the prime minister is unable to make the critical decision to take military action in Gaza, end the rule of Hamas once and for all, and bring our boys home, then I’ll be left with no choice but to resign,” Gantz said in a fiery speech before supporters in Tel Aviv. “The people of Israel have endured far too much suffering and humiliation by this terrorist regime. It is time to act decisively.”
The explosive ultimatum represents a dramatic escalation in tensions between Gantz and Netanyahu, who formed an emergency coalition government in May 2021 following another inconclusive election. The fragile partnership was meant to stabilize Israel’s political turmoil while empowering the government to chart a new strategy for resolving the situation in Gaza after Hamas’ devastating rocket barrages and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes brought destruction across the region.
Instead, progress has stalled as the two leaders have repeatedly clashed over the direction of policy towards Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gantz, a former military chief, has repeatedly pushed for more aggressive action to secure the release of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two fallen IDF soldiers currently being held hostage by Hamas. He has also pressed for a firm commitment to ending the militant group’s de facto rule over the beleaguered Palestinian territory.
For his part, Netanyahu swiftly rejected Gantz’s demand as counterproductive, accusing his coalition partner of pushing for unilateral surrender to Hamas’ demands and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza.
“The conditions set by Benny Gantz are washed-up words whose meaning is clear: the end of war and defeat for Israel, abandoning most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” the prime minister said in a statement. “This is the path of concessions that would bring neither peace nor security, only more violence, suffering and missed opportunities.”
The bitter back-and-forth underscores the fragility of the coalition government amid deep ideological rifts over the future of the Palestinian territories. Gantz’s ultimatum raises the prospect of an imminent political collapse in Israel, which has weathered four elections in the past two years with no decisive mandate from voters.
Hardline Rhetoric
Palestinian political analysts said Gantz’s hardline rhetoric aimed to score political points with pro-settler factions while extracting concessions from Netanyahu on Gaza policy. However, they remained skeptical a military campaign could achieve a sustainable solution.
“Gantz is playing a dangerous game by signaling his willingness to escalate the bloodshed in Gaza under the guise of toppling Hamas,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a former Palestinian negotiator. “Any new Israeli offensive would only compound the immense suffering and devastation the Gaza Strip has already endured under this brutal siege.”
The two million Palestinians residing in the densely populated Gaza enclave have lived under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. The restrictions on movement and basic goods have plunged the coastal strip deeper into a perpetual humanitarian crisis, stoking tensions that routinely erupt into cycles of unrest and violence.
Looming over the political turmoil is the fate of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the 2014 Gaza war. Their captivity remains a highly charged emotional issue that has helped rally domestic support for military action while complicating regional diplomacy.
“Gantz is well aware the hostage issue is the one rallying point that gives him political cover to push for military intervention,” said Akram Abusafia, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. “But liberating the prisoners or forcibly removing Hamas will come at an extraordinarily bloody price that few Palestinians or Israelis seem willing to pay.”
For now, the situation remains a high-stakes stalemate between bitter adversaries – with both Gantz and Netanyahu hoping their brinkmanship will force the other to blink first on the path forward in Gaza. Yet with neither appearing inclined to compromise, the crisis could easily escalate into a violent conflagration that the besieged Palestinian territory can ill-afford.
