New Delhi: Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas — the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition alliance National Unity leader Benny Gantz Wednesday reportedly agreed to form a temporary war cabinet and a ‘unity government’ to deal with the crisis.
The cabinet, which will last for the duration of the war, will include members with extensive military backgrounds and reduce the role of Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious allies, according to a report in The Times of Israel.
Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel last week that has reportedly claimed the lives of over 1,300 Israelis, and over 1,400 Palestinians so far.
In an agreement, the two leaders decided to form a five-member “war management cabinet”. Apart from Netanyahu, Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the cabinet will have Likud party leader and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief and current National Unity member of Israeli Knesset Gadi Eisenkot serving as observers, said a report in The Times of Israel.
This relatively small group will supersede the existing broader State Security Cabinet or ‘inner cabinet’ of the Israeli government, which included conservative politicians such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, among others.
The new cabinet will also make crucial decisions regarding how to conduct the war, such as the objectives of the operation, the orders for the military actions, the exit strategies and more.
Usually, a 10-member security cabinet oversees such security-based decisions. However, Gantz, who is also a former defence minister and IDF chief of staff, had reportedly demanded a smaller war cabinet and that no non-war related legislation be passed in the Knesset under the new unity government.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party did not join the emergency cabinet, as he reportedly wanted Netanyahu to fire far-right ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. While these ministers have not been removed, they are not a part of the war cabinet.
Ben-Gvir had reportedly sparked outrage in August this year when he said his rights were “more important” than those of Palestinians living in the West Bank — a comment that was reportedly condemned by the US and the European Union (EU).
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Members of the new unity govt
Apart from the five-member cabinet, the larger unity government includes five National Unity party members — Gantz, Eisenkot, former minister of justice Gideon Sa’ar, former culture minister Chili Tropper and former education minister Yifat Shasha-Biton — who could influence impact political management of the war, given the difference in views between the various leaders.
Gideon Sa’ar, who was minister of justice between 2021 and 2022, has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu and his party Likud. In June this year, he had openly accused them of “bribing” coalition members and reportedly stated that he “won’t bring Bibi back”, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Apart from Netanyahu and Gantz, the new government also includes Gallant, Eisenkot, and Dermer, who are members of the war cabinet.
While Gallant on 9 October ordered a complete siege on the Gaza region following Hamas’ attack last week, Eisenkot has been strongly criticising the government’s controversial judicial reforms. He even reportedly called for “a million people to take to the streets” if the reforms were passed in the Knesset.
Political differences
Gantz — leader of the center-right Blue and White party that formed the National Unity alliance with the Gideon Sa’ar-led New Hope — joined politics at the end of 2018 as an anti-Netanyahu candidate ahead of the 2019 elections.
As a defence minister, Gantz was a vocal supporter of using the Abraham Accords to support the Palestinian Authority (PA) and to boost the Palestinian economy. The PA controls the West Bank region.
The Abraham Accords is a series of agreements brokered by the US and signed by Israel with four Arab nations — the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan — between September 2020 and January 2021. The ‘two-state solution’ forms the bedrock of the Abraham Accords, a UN proposed framework which envisions establishing two states for two peoples — Israel for the Jewish people, and Palestine for the Palestinian people.
Palestine has rejected the accords, with President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly claiming that Palestine’s neighbours are “turning their backs on the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Gantz also advocated for investment in strategic dialogue, infrastructure, stability, security and economic prosperity in the West Bank, rejecting any ideas of annexation of the region, according to a Times of Israel report.
“I believe that we can leverage the Abraham Accords and ties with regional partners in order to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and promote confidence-building measures,” he reportedly said at the Aspen Security Forum last year.
Similarly, former PM and now opposition leader Lapid also supported a ‘two-state solution’ in the Israel-Palestine dispute.
On the other hand, Netanyahu and the Likud party’s policies have been reportedly focusing on deepening Israeli occupation in the West Bank and implementing a status quo policy in Gaza, attempting to bypass the Palestinian Authority government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to an op-ed in the Times of Israel, this approach is viewed to have “propped up” Hamas. “Amid this bid to impair Abbas, Hamas was upgraded from a mere terror group to an organisation with which Israel held indirect negotiations via Egypt, and one that was allowed to receive infusions of cash from abroad,” the report added.
Netanyahu has often used ‘divide and conquer’ policies focused on annexing parts of the West Bank and dividing Palestinians to gain power and influence in Israel.
According to various reports, in private meetings, the Israeli PM has often argued that those who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state should promote funding to Gaza to create a division between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas.
Previous unity governments
This is not the first time that the two leaders have formed an emergency government. Israel has had a history of unity governments and coalitions.
During the Six-Day war in 1967, then PM Levi Eshkol formed a coalition with opposition parties Herut (the predecessor of the present Likud Party), Gahal, and Rafi. This government consisted of 21 ministers, including one each from two new ministries — minister of immigrant absorption and minister of information.
Since then, the country has experienced numerous unity governments in 1969, 1970, 1984-88, 1988-1990, in the 2000s and most recently in 2020. Introduction of direct elections in Israel as well as changes in demographics led to a decline in unity governments in the 2000s as it altered power and characteristics of the main parties within Israel’s political system.
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the backdrop of a political stalemate in the country, Netanyahu and Gantz formed an emergency alliance consisting 36 ministers and 16 deputies to handle the health crisis devastating the world. Under this power-sharing government, Netanyahu served as PM, while Gantz was his deputy.
In this case, a new ‘two bloc government’ or ‘government of alternates’ was introduced, where one bloc was led by the PM and the other headed by the deputy PM. These blocs had equal voting powers and veto rights in decision-making. However, this government reportedly collapsed within six months due to Netanyahu’s refusal to pass a national budget.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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