Gantz must show national responsibility and not surrender to the political base - opinion

Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity Party, is undoubtedly one of the most responsible politicians in Israel. For him, the State of Israel is truly above all. More than once, Gantz has had to go against his political base for the sake of national unity as part of dealing with complex security challenges – decisions that have caused him in the past, and perhaps in the future, considerable political damage.

This was the case in 2020, when Gantz decided to join a national unity government with Benjamin Netanyahu in order to prevent re-elections that were so unnecessary while Israel was facing the COVID-19 crisis. (That decision that led to the split of his Blue and White party, and subsequently to Gantz’s political decline among center-left camp supporters.) This was also the case several days after the October 7 Hamas massacre, when Gantz’s National Unity Party joined the emergency government.

Despite the national responsibility shown by Gantz and his partners, there is a fear that once again it would be political considerations, and not necessarily national ones, which would prevent Israel from achieving strategic goals that are so important to its security and future. This was the case in 2020, when Israel missed a historic opportunity to determine its borders under the auspices of the Trump administration.

After the Palestinians avoided discussing president Donald Trump’s peace plan, the Americans continued to advance in negotiations with Israel and the moderate Arab states, while realizing that the Palestinian Authority and its leader were not ready for concessions and compromises for peace. 

In light of the Palestinian rejection of Trump’s Deal of the Century, there was an understanding between Jerusalem and Washington that Israel would unilaterally implement elements of the plan, within the framework of which the Jordan Valley and the settlements blocs that make up about 30% of the West Bank would be annexed.

However, this is where the political element comes into play, when the leaders of Blue and White, defense minister Benny Gantz, and foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who previously expressed support for the annexation of the Jordan Valley and the settlements blocs, suddenly opposed this move that would guarantee Israel’s future borders with the support of the US.

As a result, when they realized that there was no broad national agreement in Israel for the move, the American administration decided not to allow Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement blocs. And so, due to irresponsible political considerations by Gantz and his partners, in the framework of the political struggle with Netanyahu and the Likud, Israel missed a historic opportunity to determine its future borders – a move that would have constituted an Israeli declaration that Jerusalem does not consider the remaining 70% of the West Bank as part of the Jewish state.

Will Israel miss another historic opportunity?

Even today there is a similar fear that Gantz and his partners will lead Israel to miss a historic opportunity. And again, this time too, in the name of narrow political considerations. This time the discussion focuses around the tension between the two main goals of the war: the overthrow of Hamas rule versus the release of all the hostages.

While most members of the government, like the majority of the Israeli public, believe that the continuation of the war and the pressure on Hamas would lead its leaders agreeing to the release of the hostages without a cessation of the battle, there are voices in the government and in the opposition that endorse a deal with Hamas, even at the price of a permanent ceasefire and the release of thousands of terrorists with blood on their hands, including those who raped, murdered, and massacred Jews on that black Shabbat.

No one in Israel disagrees that everything must be done to free the hostages from Hamas’s’ captivity, especially those innocent citizens who were brutally kidnapped from their beds after the State of Israel failed to protect them on the morning of October 7. However, at the same time, there is a historic opportunity to finally eliminate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and signal to our enemies that the Jewish state is determined to face those who want to destroy it.

This opportunity must in no way be missed in the name of narrow political considerations under the guise of concern for the hostages, a move that will definitely perpetuate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and may even extend it to the West Bank.

It is better that Gantz and his partners stand firm against the heavy pressure from their political base in the center-left camp, many of whom have not yet understood that in the Middle East, the strong survive and the weak are eliminated. Standing firm will demonstrate national responsibility and determination to continue the war until the Hamas regime collapses.

The writer is a lecturer and research fellow at the University of South Wales, UK. His recent book is Israel: National Security and Securitization (Springer, 2023).