[News] Netanyahu vs Gantz: Gaza Escalation as Reflection of Israel’s Political Rivalry

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/netanyahu-vs-gantz-gaza-escalation-as-reflection-of-israels-political-rivalry/
Netanyahu
vs Gantz: Gaza Escalation as Reflection of Israel’s Political Rivalry
August 26, 2020
------------------------------
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) with Israeli Defense Minister
Benny Gantz. (Photo: File)

*By Ramzy Baroud <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/ramzy-baroud>*

Only recently, the Palestinian group, Hamas, and Israel seemed close to
reaching
<https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/hamas-israel-prisoner-exchange-200509114601546.html>
a prisoner exchange agreement, where Hamas would release several Israeli
soldiers held in Gaza while Israel would set free an unspecified number of
Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

Instead of the much-anticipated announcement of some kind of a deal, on
August 10, Israeli bombs began
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-gaza-incendiary-balloon-attacks-israel-strikes-hamas-observation-post/>
falling on the besieged Strip and incendiary balloons, originating in Gaza,
made their way to the Israeli side of the fence.

So, what happened?

The answer lies largely – though not entirely – in Israel, specifically in
the political conflict between Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu
and his right-wing political camp, on the one hand, and their government’s
coalition partners, led by Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, on the other.

The discord between Netanyahu and Gantz is concentrated on a fierce budget
conflict currently underway in the Knesset, which has little to do with
government spending or fiscal responsibilities.

Gantz, who is supposed to serve his term as Prime Minister, starting
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-demanding-changes-to-deal-with-gantz-to-keep-coalition-intact/>
November 2021, believes that Netanyahu plans on passing a one-year budget
to disrupt the coalition agreement and to call for new elections before the
leadership swap takes place. Therefore, Gantz insists on extending the
budget coverage to two years, to avoid any possible betrayal by Netanyahu’s
Likud party.

Netanyahu’s plot, which was revealed
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-gantz-accuses-netanyahu-of-seeking-election-by-rejecting-two-year-budget-1.9031507>
by the daily newspaper Haaretz on July 29, is not entirely motivated by the
Israeli leader’s love for power, but by his mistrust of Gantz’s own
motives. If Gantz becomes the country’s Prime Minister, he is likely to
appoint new judges who are sympathetic towards his Blue and White and,
thus, eager to indict Netanyahu in his ongoing corruption trial.
<https://time.com/5868688/netanyahu-trial-rescheduled-coronavirus/>

For both Netanyahu and Gantz, this is, perhaps, the most crucial fight of
their political careers: the former fighting for his freedom, the latter
fighting for survival.

One issue, however, is acceptable to both leaders: the understanding that
military strength will always garner greater support from the Israeli
public, especially if another election becomes inevitable. A successive,
fourth election is likely to take place if the budget battle is not
resolved.

As a military showdown in South Lebanon becomes unattainable due to the
massive explosion
<https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/lebanon-beirut-explosion-live-updates-dle-intl/index.html>
that rocked Beirut on August 4, the two Israeli leaders have turned their
attention to Gaza. Moving quickly, as if on the campaign trail, Gantz and
Netanyahu are busy making their case to Israelis living in the southern
towns bordering the Gaza Strip.

Gantz paid
<https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/dm-gantz-to-gaza-we-know-how-to-target-those-against-us-639232>
the leaders of these communities a visit on August 19. He was joined by a
carefully selected delegation of top Israeli government and military
officials, including Agriculture Minister, Alon Schuster and Gaza Division
Commander, Brig.-Gen. Nimrod Aloni, who joined via video conference.

Aside from the customary threats of targeting anyone in Gaza who dares
threaten Israeli security, Gantz has engaged in election campaign type of
self-promotion. “We have changed the equation in Gaza. Since I entered
office, there has been a response to every breach in our security,” Gantz
said
<https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/dm-gantz-to-gaza-we-know-how-to-target-those-against-us-639232>,
emphasizing his own achievements, as opposed to those of the coalition
government – thus denying Netanyahu any credit.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, has threatened harsh retaliation against Gaza
if Hamas does not prevent protesters from releasing incendiary balloons.
“We have adopted a policy under which a fire is treated as a rocket,” he
told
<https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/dm-gantz-to-gaza-we-know-how-to-target-those-against-us-639232>
the mayors of southern towns on August 18.

Netanyahu is keeping the Gaza war option open, in case it becomes his only
recourse. Gantz, as Defense Minister and Netanyahu’s rival is, however,
enjoying greater political space to maneuver. From August 10, he has
ordered his military to bomb Gaza every night. With every bomb dropped on
Gaza, Gantz’s credibility among Israeli voters, especially in the south,
increases slightly.

If the current conflagration leads to an all-out war, it will be the entire
coalition government – including Netanyahu and his Likud party – that will
bear responsibility for its potential disastrous consequences. This places
Gantz in a powerful position.

The current military showdown in Gaza is not entirely the outcome of
Israel’s own political fight. Gaza society is currently at a breaking point.

The truce between Gaza groups and Israel, which was reached
<https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/11/12/egypt-steps-in-to-calm-israel-gaza-fighting>
through Egyptian mediation in November 2019, amounted to nothing. Despite
much assurance that besieged Gazans would receive badly needed respite, the
situation has, instead, reached an unprecedented, unbearable phase: Gaza’s
only power generator has run out of fuel and is no longer in operation; the
Strip’s tiny fishing zone of barely three nautical miles was declared
<https://apnews.com/dfb33d831aa9a0540f50bac5568b8b67> a closed military
zone by Israel on August 16; the Karem Abu Salem Crossing, through which
meager supplies enter Gaza through Israel, is officially shut down.

The 13-year-old Israeli siege on Gaza is currently at its worst possible
manifestation, with little room for the Gaza population to even express
their outrage at their miserable plight.

In December 2019, the Hamas authorities decided
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191227-gaza-halts-great-march-of-return-for-three-months/>
to limit the frequency of protests, known as Gaza’s March of Return, which
had taken place almost daily, starting March 2018.

Over 300 Palestinians were killed
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47758369> by Israeli snipers
during the protests. Despite the high death toll and the relative failure
to ignite international uproar against the siege, the non-violent protests
permitted ordinary Palestinians to vent, to organize and to take initiative.

The current growing frustration in Gaza has compelled Hamas to open up a
space for protesters to return to the fence in the hope that it pushes the
subject of the siege back to the news agenda.

The incendiary balloons, which have ignited the ire of the Israeli military
recently, is one of several Palestinian messages that Gazans refuse to
accept that the protracted siege is now their permanent reality.

While Egyptian mediation
<https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/17/Egyptian-mediators-in-Gaza-in-bid-to-ease-tensions-between-Hamas-and-Israel>
may eventually offer Palestinians a temporary fix and avoid an all-out war,
Israeli violence in Gaza, under the current political arrangement, will not
cease.

Certainly, for as long as Israeli leaders continue to see a war on Gaza as
a political opportunity and a platform for their own electoral games, the
siege will carry on, relentlessly.

*– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.
He is the author of five books. His latest is “**These Chains Will Be
Broken*
<https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092>*:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity
Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU).
His website is **www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
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