Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, one of the main opposition leaders, announced on Wednesday October 11 an agreement to create an emergency government during the war, four days after the deadly offensive by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
“No proposed law or government decision unrelated to the course of the war will be proposed by the government,” the statement said. This announcement suspends until further notice the justice reform project, which has divided the country since the beginning of the year just after the formation of Mr. Netanyahu’s government with the support of the far right and Jewish groups. ultraorthodox.
At the end of a meeting between the Prime Minister and the president of the National Unity Party, Benny Gantz, “the two men agreed on the establishment of an emergency government and ‘a war cabinet’, they announced in a joint statement. The war cabinet will be composed of the two men and the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant. Benny Gantz, former army chief, notably during the fifty-day war in Gaza against Hamas in 2014, was defense minister from 2020 to 2022.
A place for the other opposition leader
The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who had opposed the formation of this government, reversed his opposition and declared on Telegram “to welcome unity”, adding: “Now we must win. »
The press release specifies that five members of Mr. Gantz’s party will be named ministers without portfolios and a place in the security cabinet will be retained for the other opposition leader, Yaïr Lapid, former prime minister and head of the centrist Yesh Atid party.
In addition, former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Mr. Gantz’s party, and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, close to Mr. Netanyahu, will sit in this war cabinet as “observers,” the statement said.
Mr Netanyahu’s current government, supported by 64 out of 120 MPs, is made up of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties. With the entry of Benny Gantz’s party, the emergency government will have broader support with 76 deputies.
