Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz, who is set to become opposition leader in the coming weeks, responded to the cease-fire announced Monday by the Israel Defense Forces and criticized the government's policy, which he claimed led to the loss of Israeli deterrence.
Gantz, who was the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent election but ultimately failed to win enough seats to form a coalition, called for using the calm to promote a process that would ensure long-term calm.
Apparent ceasefire reached between #Israel and #Hamas puts temporary halt to #Gaza border flare-up
MORE ►https://t.co/mIHrtK605O pic.twitter.com/kdnIih0aL9
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 6, 2019
"Almost 700 launches into Israeli territory, many wounded and hurt, and four killed, all of them the result of the loss of deterrence, end with another surrender to the blackmail of Hamas and the terrorist organizations," Gantz said. "All that the government did, once again, is to facilitate next flare-up."
He said that he expected a "severe" response should there be a return of hostilities or otherwise a meaningful long-term agreement that ensured "a genuine political process that will lead to the return of the bodies of our fallen soldiers and those who are missing and to ensure long-term peace and stability."
Co-leader Yair Lapid and fellow faction member former IDF chief Moshe Ya'alon also reacted Monday morning to the cease-fire with similar sentiments but with even more scathing criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Netanyahu used the residents of the south as a bulletproof vest on the way to a complete submission against Hamas," Lapid wrote on Twitter.
"Netanyahu will not solve the problem in Gaza. He does not have the operational and political courage to do so. The least he has to do is explain to Israeli citizens the situation but even for that he lacks the courage."
Ya'alon was even more cynical, saying that Netanyahu "buys temporary peace only for his political survival."
Netanyahu's fellow Likud parliamentarian Gideon Sa'ar was critical of the temporary truce, claiming that it did not accomplish anything for Israel, given the circumstances.
"The intervals between the flare-ups are getting shorter and the terrorist organizations in Gaza are growing stronger," he warned.
However, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz expressed satisfaction with Israel's military response, saying "the attacks were at the highest level."
On Sunday he offered a foreboding view of the situation, predicting that "Israel would still be fighting against terrorism from Gaza in thirty years time."
Labor party chairman Avi Gabbay claimed that Netanyahu's government has only strengthened Hamas.
"Without a long-term political solution, the next round is only a matter of time," Gabbay attacked.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.
