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The resignation of senior member of Israelâs war cabinet Benny Gantz has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even more beholden to his far-right allies â who have taken a hardline stance on the ceasefire deal and are pushing for escalatory policies in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
Gantz, the leader of Israelâs centrist-right National Unity party, and his party member, Gadi Eisenkot, their resignation from Netanyahuâs government on June 9 after months of mounting frustration over Israelâs war policy in Gaza.
Following Gantzâs departure, on Monday Netanyahu dissolved the six-member emergency war cabinet. He is now expected to hold consultations over the war in Gaza with a small group of ministers, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
While the far-right, ultranationalist ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, were excluded from the emergency war cabinet, they hold seats on Israelâs regular security cabinet â likely to now have more decision-making power.
â[Gantzâs departure] brings the composition of the Israeli government back to its pre-October 7 composition, in which the right-wing factions have more impact on decision-making,â Nimrod Goren, a Jerusalem-based political analyst with Middle East Institute, told °źÂț”ș.
"Nobody in the Israeli political establishment is willing to say âstop the warâ"
âNow that a war cabinet with Gantzâs party was dismantled by Netanyahu, the regular cabinet with the far-right ministers may be dealing with more issues of higher significance than it did in previous months,â Goren said.
Gantz Netanyahuâs emergency government last year as a gesture of solidarity following the Hamas attack on October 7. Pushing for ceasefire and hostage deals, he earned the reputation as the more rational and sensible leader in Netanyahuâs ultranationalist and religious government.Ìę
Although Gantz and Eisenkotâs resignation was not enough to break Netanyahuâs 64-member majority in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and push early elections, it has left Netanyahu alone with his far-right allies and their adamant calls to continue Israelâs onslaught on Gaza.
âHe doesnât have that fig leaf anymore; he doesnât have any so-called moderate voices,â Mairav Zonszein, the International Crisis Groupâs senior Israel-Palestine analyst, told °źÂț”ș.Ìę
Will Gantz's resignation kickstart right-wing demands?
In Gantzâs absence, Netanyahuâs far-right coalition members will have more leeway to raise their voices and push their aggressive war policies. They have for the Jewish settlement of the Gaza Strip and the shooting of women and children, to invade southern Lebanon, and have repeatedly blocked deals for a ceasefire in the Strip.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich responded to the latest ceasefire deal on June 1 by threatening to ââ the government if it was adopted by pulling their parties out of the coalition. Netanyahu needs Ben-Gvir and Smotrichâs parties to keep his 64-member majority and hence must cater to their demands.
Now, Goren noted that they will be even âbetter positioned to try and block these deals that require government approvalâ.
Ben Gvir has hailed Gantzâs departure as ââ, criticising Gantzâs centrist party for putting âa spoke in the wheels of the war machineâ.
âNobody in the Israeli political establishment is willing to say âstop the warâ,â Zonszein said. âIf we continue on this route [of endless war with no real end game], it isnât hard to see their political vision of de-populating and resettling Gaza [becoming a reality],â she added.Ìę
Zonszein noted this could also have dangerous implications on Israelâs northern border with Lebanon, where there is a âconsistent escalatory paradigm that could at any moment break outâ.
Fighting has on the border following an Israeli strike that killed a senior Hezbollah commander on June 11. Hezbollah retaliated on June 12 by firing the most rockets in a single day towards Israel since the clashes erupted on October 8.Ìę
Ben-Gvir Netanyahu for what he said was an insufficient response to the Hezbollah rocket barrage on June 12. âNetanyahu â the excuses are over. You are the prime minister, and you canât even hide behind Gantz and Eisenkot anymore,â he on X.
Israelâs Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is âunder pressure to respond more forcefully [in Lebanon]â, considering âIsraelâs tactical achievements are not adding up to any strategic breakthroughâ, Zonszein added.Ìę
âItâs clear the situation [on Israelâs northern border] is extremely precarious,â Zonszein said. âWith just the far-right and Netanyahu, it seems less likely theyâre going to put a stop to it [the fighting] because it depends on a ceasefire in Gaza, which theyâre not endorsing.â
A high price from the Palestinian pocket
Without Gantz and Eisenkot, Netanyahu can no longer maintain the image that the government is paralysed by quarrelling war cabinet members.
He will be under more pressure to appease the more powerful far-right, likely with deals that facilitate their settlement expansion policies and the violent crackdown on Palestinians in the West Bank, Khalil Shaheen, a Ramallah-based political analyst from the Palestinian Policy Network, told °źÂț”ș.
For instance, Netanyahu will have to convince Ben Gvir and Smotrich to move forward with a ceasefire deal and hence, must âpay a priceâ, Shaheen said â likely to come from âthe Palestinian pocketâ.
âIf Netanyahu can reach a deal with them to buy their silence over a [ceasefire] deal in Gaza, the price will be very high from the Palestinian pocket,â Shaheen said.Ìę
"The renewed strength of far-right actors following Gantzâs departure has left Israel more isolated on the international stage"
Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and their far-right allies have been pressing for a throughout the West Bank. Smotrich on May 30 to destroy cities, neighbourhoods and Palestinian camps in occupied territories, calling for the Israeli army to repeat in the West Bank what it did in Gaza.
In a recent raid of Jenin city and refugee camp on June 12, Israeli forces demolished the in the area â destroying streets, shops, and electricity networks to points beyond repair.Ìę
Shaheen added that the Israeli army has been destroying infrastructure vital to Palestineâs economy, like in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank.
âThe same things we are witnessing in Gaza are being carried out in another way in the West Bank,â Shaheen stated.
Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank have during the war in Gaza â provoked by Israelâs ultranationalist ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
After the October 7 attack, the Israeli government encouraged the formation and training of defence units for settlements and has since expanded its role. âThe settler [violence] is turning into an official policy,â Shaheen said.
He expressed his fears that soon â with the Knesset dominated by ultranationalist, religious politicians â âreligious Zionism will become the official policy of the Israeli armyâ.
Israeli electorate moves right
Gantz soared in the polls after October 7; his supporters tout him as their next prime minister, drawn to his more centrist stances and military background.
Goren commented that while Gantz is still âseen as more fit for prime minister than Netanyahu at the momentâ,Ìę a significant portion of the Israeli electorate is turning towards what might be a new right-wing coalition, potentially led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and opposition party head Avigdor Lieberman.
âThe war very clearly took Israelis more to the right,â Goren said. âIsraelis became more hawkish, more security-minded, more sceptical of any agreement with the Palestinians and more fearful of what might happen yet.âÌę Ìę
ÌęâFor months after October 7, while more Israelis adopted right-wing ideas, they expressed in the polls an intention to vote for Gantzâs centrist party,â he added, âBut, the gap between attitudes and possible electoral behaviours could not stick for a long time.â
Following Gantzâs resignation, Netanyahuâs right-wing Likud policy also some traction in the polls, closing the gap behind Gantz.Ìę
On the prospect of early elections, Goren noted that Gantzâs resignation could be a "momentum of changeâ to encourage political dynamics that could eventually lead to the early elections âmost Israelis wantâ.
He said one of the actors to watch is Israelâs Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, whose stances are often against Netanyahuâs. In his resignation announcement, Gantz called for early elections and called on Gallant to ââ and leave Netanyahuâs cabinet.
Meanwhile, now, the renewed strength of far-right actors following Gantzâs departure has left Israel more isolated on the international stage. âThe international community doesnât have someone easy to engage with now within the Israeli government,â Goren said. He also noted that global criticism of Israel is likely to rise should the war continue.
The âpure, right-wing, fascist governmentâ in Israel after Gantzâs departure will be detrimental to Palestinians, Shaheen said. âThey want to destroy the rights of Palestinians and force them to leave their homelandâ.
Hanna Davis is a freelance journalist reporting on politics, foreign policy, and humanitarian affairs.
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