Netanyahu dissolves his war government

TEL AVIV – An Israeli official announced Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved his six-member war cabinet, in a widely expected move that came after one of his main rivals, former centrist general Benny Gantz, resigned from the emergency government.

The official said the Prime Minister informed the ministers that he would hold sensitive consultations in a smaller forum dubbed the ‘Kitchen Cabinet’.

Netanyahu has faced demands from ultra-nationalist ministers in his coalition, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, to be included in the war cabinet, a move that would heighten tensions with international partners including the United States.

The forum was formed after Gantz joined Netanyahu in a national unity government at the beginning of the war following Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7. It also included Gantz’s partner, Gadi Eisenkot, and Aryeh Deri, head of the religious Shas party, as observers.

Both Gantz and Eisenkot left the government last week, over what they said was Netanyahu’s failure to form a strategy for the war, which has now entered its eighth month.

“I think a lot of this is internal politics and maneuvering for a possible future election, but I also feel like Netanyahu feels a little stronger than he did a short while ago,” said Paul Salem, vice president for international engagement at the Washington-based university. Middle East Research Institute.

Netanyahu, who has been widely blamed for the security failures that allowed the October 7 Hamas attacks, has been “reaping political rewards” from his disagreement with President Joe Biden over elements of Israel’s conduct during the war and “pretending to be on his feet.” “They support what the Israelis want and refuse to yield to pressure,” Salem said.

He added that this “helped him politically.”

With recent opinion polls showing that Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party is making gains over the National Unity Party led by Gantz, Salem said that the former army general and defense minister in the last government faced pressure on his part to act.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, since Israel launched its assault on the Strip following the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others were taken hostage, according to Israel. Officials.

On Monday, Netanyahu met with Amos Hochstein, the White House official charged with trying to ease tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The United States, in cooperation with France, is working to reach a negotiated settlement of the hostilities along Lebanon’s southern border.

Neither Netanyahu nor Hochstein commented after the meeting.