Israel Resilience party leader Benny Gantz said in a published interview Wednesday that Israel should "find a way" to end its control over the Palestinians.
With both a general election and the unveiling of a U.S. peace initiative on the horizon, the centrist candidate and former IDF chief of staff has been signaling openness to territorial compromise in the West Bank. That marks a contrast with the right-wing Netanyahu, who has ruled out withdrawing settlements.
The secret U.S. proposal for breaking a five-year diplomatic deadlock is widely expected to be unveiled after Israel's April 9 ballot. Pollsters see Netanyahu's conservative Likud party winning around 30 of parliament's 120 seats, setting him up for a fifth term.
Gantz has so far said little about the Palestinian issue, or whether he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. But in Wednesday's interview with the Ynet news site, his first with the Israeli media, he said the continued rule over the Palestinians is not an Israeli interest.
"We need to find a way in which we're not controlling other people," he said. "We, and Bibi [Netanyahu] said so himself in his Bar-Ilan speech, are not looking to control anyone else."
With peace talks frozen for years, Gantz's comments were welcomed by the Palestinians, who have been boycotting the Trump administration since its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, praised "the signs coming from Gantz about settlements," calling them a step in the right direction should he win the election and prove "willing and ready" for peace.
"It's encouraging if he succeeds and he sticks to this opinion," Rdeneh told reporters.
In the interview, Gantz was asked whether he favored another unilateral move similar to the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which is widely seen as a failure in Israel. Two years after Israel's disengagement from Gaza, the Hamas terrorist group seized control of Gaza.
Gantz said the withdrawal was a "diplomatic move" by the government that was carried out in a "painful but good manner."
"We need to take the lessons learned and implement them elsewhere," he said.
His opponents quickly lambasted him. Netanyahu's Likud party warned that Gantz would form a "leftist" government backed by Arab parties, while the hard-line nationalist New Right party said that Gantz is planning on "expelling" more Jews from their homes.
Gantz's party later put out a clarification saying, "no unilateral decisions will be made on settlement evacuation" and that he would "maintain ... non-negotiable security protections."
It noted, "The disengagement was carried out and led by the legitimate government headed by the Likud, it was voted for by Netanyahu and the heads of Likud."
In response, Netanyahu said, "Abu Mazen [Abbas] is pleased because Benny Gantz said he will carry out a second disengagement in Judea and Samaria, and Abu Mazen wished him success in the elections. That is why we must come together to win these elections and prevent that. That is the essence of these elections: a leftist government headed by Benny Gantz or a Likud government headed by me."
Israel Resilience responded to Netanyahu on Twitter, saying "Netanyahu, you expelled Jews. You paid Hamas protection [payments]. Your time is up – we are continuing."
Gantz, whose new Resilience party is gaining ground against Netanyahu's Likud with as many as 24 projected seats, has said he wanted to strengthen settlement blocs in the West Bank. But he has not mentioned what might happen in any future peace deal to isolated settlements that are not incorporated into Israel if Palestinians are given a separate state.
The interview came as Likud held its primary election to select its list of candidates for the parliamentary election. In a setback to Netanyahu, his chief internal rival made a strong showing despite a campaign by the prime minister to sideline him.
With Netanyahu facing a series of corruption charges, the primaries have taken on added significance as an indicator for his potential successor within the party.
Gantz said he did not think Netanyahu should remain as prime minister if he is indicted.
