Benny Gantz’s centrist party, who sits on his war council Israelhas filed a bill to dissolve parliament, but it is unclear whether it has enough support in the Knesset to trigger early elections.

Earlier this month Gantz sent an ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding he agree to a plan for the “day after” in the Gaza Strip by June 8. He threatened to leave the governing coalition if no such plan was presented.

The National Unity party “submitted a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset (…) This is a follow-up to party leader Benny Gantz’s request to move forward with a broad agreement ahead of holding elections before October, one year after the massacre” , the statement said.

Israel’s former defense minister agreed to work with the Netanyahu government after the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israeli soil that sparked the Gaza war. Gantz’s centrist bloc, however, fell apart in March when Gideon Shaar, a former justice minister from Netanyahu’s Likud, ended his partnership and formed a separate, center-right group in parliament. Ganj’s National Unity party alone does not have enough votes to topple the government.

Likud responded to Gantz’s move with a statement stressing that Israel needs unity and that disbanding the government would hurt the war effort.