Netanyahu responds to Gantz: Making demands of the Prime Minister instead of Hamas

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded last night (Saturday) to minister Benny Gantz's statement threatening to leave the government if they don't form a strategic plan for the war in Gaza by June 8.

"While our heroic soldiers are fighting to destroy the Hamas battalions in Gaza, Gantz is choosing to present an ultimatum to the Prime Minister instead of presenting an ultimatum to Hamas," Netanyahu said. "The conditions Benny Gantz presented are whitewashed words whose significance is clear: ending the war and a defeat for Israel, abandoning most of the hostages, leaving Hamas standing and establishing a Palestinian state. Our soldiers did not fall in vain and certainly not for replacing Hamastan with Fatahstan."

According to him, "if Gantz prefers the national interest and isn't looking for an excuse to bring down the government, let him answer the following questions: 1 - is he prepared to complete the operation in Rafah to destroy the Hamas battalions, and if so how can he threaten to dismantle the emergency government in the midst of the operation? 2 - Does he oppose the civilian control by the Palestinian authority in Gaza, even without Abass? 3 - Is he prepared to accept a Palestinian state in Gaza and Judea and Samaria as part of the normalization process with Saudi Arabia?"

"The Prime Minister's stance on these fateful issues is clear: Prime Minister Netanyahu is determined to eliminate the Hamas battalions, he opposes bringing in the Palestinian Authority into Gaza and the establishment of a Palestinian State which will necessarily be a terror state. Prime Minister Netanyahu thinks that the emergency government is important for achieving all the goals of the war, including the return of all of our hostages, and he expects Gantz to clarify his stances to the public on these issues."