Symbol of “national unity” in the war against Hamasthe Israel’s war council disturbed by the political rivalry between the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist ex-defense minister, ex-army chief Benny Gantz, which far precedes voting intention in public opinion polls.

His visit Benny Gantz in Washingtonon Monday and yesterday, Tuesday, and in London today, without Benjamin Netanyahu’s permission, brought to light the deep differences between the two men, at a time when international pressure on Israel is escalating in the face of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

According to Yohanan Plesner, director of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), a liberal think tank, this visit by Benny Gantz to Israel’s key ally “shows that his trust in Netanyahu is at an all-time low and that he has decided to present another voice in Washington.”

The visit caused a stir in Israel, where the centrist politician drew the ire of ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud party.

“He is acting behind the Prime Minister’s back,” complained Mary Regev, Minister of Transport, describing the visit as “subversive”.

A political opponent of Netanyahu, the leader of the centrist National Unity party accepted the post on Israel’s war council, which was set up to manage the war in Gaza, to strengthen national unity after the trauma of the October 7 attack by Hamas. on Israeli soil.

Gantz prepares to leave

“But tensions never went away” between the two men who “hate each other,” says Reuven Hazan, a professor at the School of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Israel’s war council consists of five members. The main three are Netanyahu, Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Galland.

According to Reuven Hazan, Benny Gantz made these visits to Washington and London to present himself as a possible future prime minister and mainly to start his exit from the government, which is considered “inevitable”.

Consequently, he is trying to take advantage of growing concern in Washington about the turn of the war in Gaza, which is threatened by famine.

US President Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu are “in open war”. Washington is pressing the Israeli prime minister “not to continue down this path of mass civilian deaths in Gaza without knowing what he wants to do next,” the war, notes Reuven Hazan.

Political bomb

“Gandz is not Netanyahu, he is closer to the position of the Americans” for the post-war phase, says the Israeli academic.

It is a “more agreeable partner” for Washington, “more open to dialogue with moderate partners in the region” and the role the Palestinian Authority could play in Gaza after the war, adds Yohanan Plesner.

Last week, Benny Gantz welcomed Defense Minister Yoav Gallad’s announcement of conscription reform to include exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The proposal fell like a political bombshell in Israel. The media interpreted it as a sign of Yoav Galland’s disloyalty to Netanyahu, even though they belong to the same party.

In particular, the decision puts the Israeli prime minister in an extremely difficult position, at a time when the two major parties of ultra-orthodox Jews can overthrow the fragile governing coalition at any time.

Netanyahu is trying to avoid early elections at all costs, which instead benefit Benny Gantz. So far, Netanyahu had succeeded. But “if there is one issue that can bring about the collapse of the governing coalition, it is the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox,” sums up Yohanan Plesner.

Now, what remains for Gantz is to find the right time to step down as prime minister “by showing that he is defending Israel’s interests” in the long term “and that Netanyahu is only there to protect his personal interests,” says Reuven Hazan.