‘I want to save the captives’ – Former DM Gantz calls for 6-month unity gov't to return hostages, pass IDF Draft Law

Former Israeli Defense Minister and Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz held a press conference on Saturday evening, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition head Yair Lapid, and right-wing opposition Knesset Member Avigdor Liberman to form a six-month unity government focused on freeing the remaining hostages. 

At the press conference on Saturday evening, Gantz said, "The principles will be that the government's term will begin with a hostage deal that will bring everyone home. Within weeks, we will formulate an Israeli service outline that will recruit our ultra-Orthodox brothers and make it easier for those serving. And finally, we will announce an agreed election date in the spring of 2026 and accordingly pass a law to dissolve the Knesset. This is what is right for Israel.” 

Gantz referenced his own mother, Malka, who survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, “weighing only 29 kilograms [64 pounds].” 

“She taught me that life is sacred,” Gantz explained. “That the role of our state is first and foremost to save the lives of Jews and every citizen. Any of the hostages who are in danger of death could have been our son. Your son. I served in the IDF for almost 40 years so that there would never be pictures like Evyatar David's, like my mother's during the Holocaust.” 

“I know, the poison factories will soon start working,” Gantz continued. “They will say that I want to save Netanyahu. That's not true – I want to save the captives.” 

He also rebutted accusations that he is attempting to gain more political support after falling in recent polls. 

“Some will say that I'm doing this because of the polls,” he said. “I will remind them, I entered governments twice: once with 33 seats and the second time when I was the largest party in the polls. I only had something to lose.” 

Recent polls show that Gantz’s Blue and White party would likely not clear the election threshold to win seats in the Knesset after the departure of his political partner, Gadi Eisenkot. 

An anonymous source in Blue and White told public broadcaster Kan News that Gantz was motivated by fear that several of the hostages could die from health issues due to the conditions of their captivity. 

“Today we are at a crucial crossroads, with the possibility of moving forward with a deal that will ultimately return all of our hostages,” Gantz stated. “I say this from knowledge. Our hostages are in mortal danger. Their time is limited. At the same time, our brothers in the reserves and regulars are collapsing from the strain.” 

The offer of a unity government was meant to counteract a possible veto or collapse of the government by right-wingers, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – who are both opposed to a hostage-ceasefire deal – demanding the complete takeover and occupation of Gaza. 

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, speaking before Gantz’s press conference, said there is no need to form a unity government. 

“I don't understand why [Gantz wants to join the government],” Lapid told Channel 12 News' program "Meet the Press."

“After all, if the goal is a hostage deal, and to close an agreed date for the elections, you can do that with me over the phone. There is no reason in the world to enter the government.” 

“I don't know why he says that. I have never doubted that Benny Gantz is an Israeli patriot and does what he thinks is right, but there is no need for that,” Lapid continued. 

He said he does not understand Gantz’s decision to join Netanyahu’s government, given that the prime minister had already broken his word to him in the past.

“There is a safety net for the return of the hostages and for setting an agreed date for the elections; it can be done with a 15-minute phone call. You don't have to go into the government for that, especially with someone whose government you've already entered twice and you've been cheated twice,” Lapid noted. “What do you want? To be cheated a third time, what is it good for?” 

On Sunday morning, Lieberman also declined to join such a unity government, telling Kan News that Gantz’s press conference was “a pitiful spectacle.” 

“I saw a tired, scared, panicked man begging for his life and hitching a ride on the most sensitive issues,” Lieberman told Kan News. “In the Likud, they don't interact with him.” 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also criticized Gantz, arguing the coalition government had all its successes without him. 

“We have reached achievements without Gantz in Iran, we have made achievements without Gantz with Hezbollah, we have made achievements in all kinds of sectors,” Ben Gvir said. “If we want to reach an achievement in Gaza, Benny Gantz must not enter the government.”