Cracks widening in Netanyahu’s government
A top Israeli cabinet minister is heading to Washington for talks with US officials, sparking a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a sign of widening cracks in his wartime government nearly five months into the war with Hamas.
The trip by Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival who joined Mr Netanyahu's hardline government in the early days of the war following Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, comes amid deep disagreements between Mr Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over how to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and create a post-war vision for the enclave.
The US was prompted to airdrop aid into Gaza on Saturday after dozens of Palestinians rushing to grab food from trucks were killed last week. The airdrops circumvented what has been a prohibitive aid delivery system, which has faced Israeli restrictions, logistical issues within Gaza as well as the ongoing fighting inside the enclave. But aid officials say the airdrops are far less effective than the aid sent in trucks.
US priorities in the region have increasingly been hampered by Mr Netanyahu's hard-line cabinet, where ultra-nationalists dominate. Mr Gantz's more moderate party at times acts as a counterweight to Mr Netanyahu's far-right allies.
An official from Mr Netanyahu's Likud party said Mr Gantz's visit comes without authorisation from the Israeli leader. The official said Mr Netanyahu had a "tough talk" with Mr Gantz about the trip and told him the country has "just one prime minister".
An Israeli official said Mr Gantz had informed the PM of his intention to travel to the US and to co-ordinate messaging with him. The official said the visit is meant to strengthen ties with Washington, to bolster support for Israel's ground campaign and to push for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu has tanked in popularity since the war broke out, according to most opinion polls, with many Israelis holding him responsible for Hamas's cross-border raid that left 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead and roughly 250 people, abducted and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
The subsequent fighting has killed at least 30,410 Palestinians,around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Around 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and UN agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.
Critics say Mr Netanyahu's decision-making has been tainted by political considerations - a charge he denies. The criticism is particularly focused on plans for postwar Gaza. Mr Netanyahu has released a proposal that would see Israel maintain open-ended security control over the territory with local Palestinians running civilian affairs.
The US wants to see progress on the creation of a Palestinian state, envisioning a revamped Palestinian leadership running Gaza with an eye towards eventual statehood.
That vision is opposed by Mr Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government.