The chairman of the Blue and White-National Unity coalition, Benny Gantz, has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition to form a provisional unity government without the far right to resolve what he considers to be the country's two main outstanding political issues: the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and a consensus on military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Gantz presented his proposal at a press conference, appealing directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as to opposition centrist Yair Lapid and Yisrael Beitenu party leader Avigdor Liberman.
"The hostages are in mortal danger," he warned, recalling the Holocaust, while the armed forces reservists "are sinking under the weight" of nearly two years of military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
For this reason, he has proposed forming "a government for an exchange of hostages and for equitable burden-sharing" of military service, which would last six months, after which early elections would be held, now scheduled for October 2026.
Gantz has insisted that Netanyahu is avoiding a hostage deal due to political pressure from his far-right allies rather than valid security concerns, urging him to abandon them and "put the nation first."
"There are 50 hostages in the Hamas tunnels. Each of the hostages whose lives are in danger could be our son, your son," the former defense minister argued. "I don't want to save Netanyahu, but rather to save the hostages," he emphasized.
Shortly after Gantz's proposal was released, Yisrael Beitenu responded with an ambiguous message: "Yisrael Beitenu demands the immediate return of all hostages, without conditions. The only government we will be part of will be a Zionist government through and through, and we will not participate in any feints," it stated.
