the prime minister has reacted, in fact, he did so as benny gantz was speaking. n the campaign. this is the time tojoin forces. abandon the campaign. this is the time to join forces. citizens of israel, we will continue until the victory and the achievement of all the goals of the war, primarily the release of all our hostages and the elimination of hamas. my daughter will remain open to any zionist party willing to shoulder the burden and help attain victory over our enemies and ensure the safety of our citizens. that was benjamin netanyahu's response to benny gantz standing down from his government. he has quit government in a live news conference. jon he has quit government in a live news conference. jon donnison is following events for us and was watching that live as well from israel. just put it into context, the significance of what benny gantz has done this evening. i the significance of what benny gantz has done this evening.— has done this evening. i don't think it was a shock _ has done this evening. i don't think it was a shock because _ has done this

when benny gantz make that statement, _ this? when benny gantz make that statement, going - this?ng back. this? when benny gantz make that statement, going back a i that statement, going back a couple of weeks, about this during the eight deadline which obviously is today... if the conditions he had laid out for is that netanyahu had not been met, he would withdraw politically and that would damage the coalition that prime minister netanyahu operates minister neta nyahu operates under. minister netanyahu operates under. the fact he has now not given this press conference, and perhaps this was a way of prime minister netanyahu calling the bluff on the withdrawal from the coalition... we've also seen that the coalition is very fragile for prime minister netanyahu, and he has pressure on one side from people like benny gantz, and on the other sand there side, the far right end of the political spectrum, there were members of the coalition who vowed that unless israel continues on the path to what they claim is total victory against hamas, they are going to withdraw their support. ——

netanyahu appealed to benny gantz to remain in the war cabinet after benny gantz made the announcementsage on a social media. our international editor jeremy bowen has been following the developments. this is the quote that in his press conference he was going to say it yesterday but he put it off for 2h hours after the hostage rescue. he said "faithful strategic decisions "are stuck due to hesitation and procrastination out "of political considerations," talking about benjamin netanyahu, by political considerations he means the desire to stay in power and perhaps prolong the war when he could be doing a deal. and to avoid the reckoning with the israeli people about the mistakes that led up to the security failures of 7 october, which a lot of israelis blame netanyahu for. benny gantz is hoping this move will start the destruction of the netanyahu government and there will be elections and the polls say if there were elections he would become the prime minister. it might backfire because netanyahu is reliant on the votes to keep his coalition going of ultranationalist far—right element

translation: we minister benny gantz is speaking. translation:— minister benny gantz is speaking. we did that despite the fact that we knew _ translation: we did that despite the fact that we knew that _ translation: we did that despite the fact that we knew that this _ translation: we did that despite the fact that we knew that this was - translation: we did that despite the fact that we knew that this was a - fact that we knew that this was a bad government. we did that because we knew that this is a bad government. the people of israel, the fighters, the soldiers, the families of those who have been murdered, the families of the hostages, needed unity. this is why we established an emergency government, not out of a political partnership but because we felt that we shared this same fate. after the disaster of october, the situation in israel and the decision rules have changed. netanyahu and his partners have turned unity into an emotional call, but without any basis in reality. strategic, fateful decisions and counter hesitation and political considerations. honestly, entering

and of course of course, benny gantz had visited washington in march. he met with vice president kamala harris and national security adviser jake sullivan to talk about the day after planning and the ongoing talks of revolving around the release of the hostages, as well as a ceasefire in gaza. now come and going up to today, one of the questions that was top of mind was whether president biden outlining that hostage release proposal would reverse his decision if you recall, a couple of weeks ago, the president publicly stating what the deal was, the three phases that included the release of all hostages in exchange. again, for that temporary ceasefire, potentially a permanent ceasefire and then the reconstruction of gaza. but now we know that that did not get benny gantz deciding to to depart the government. now, as you mentioned, president biden is on his way back from france right now. he's expected to return to wilmington later this evening, but up to now, the white house is not yet commented on this departure all right. >> priscilla alvarez. thank y

in fact, benny gantz's numbers have gone the other way. the decision he is taken reflects on the growing confidence of the prime minister. >> yes and no. the longer we get away from october 7, the more netanyahu's numbers will stabilize but overall he is still hugely unpopular. once we go to elections at some point, we will see some political jokers being thrown into the political spectrum, such as the former prime minister naftali bennett, joseph common, they will likely join israeli politics. if they do, netanyahu has no future because they will steal most of the votes from likud and benny gantz. once there are elections held, i believe netanyahu's days are absolutely numbered. christian: live pictures coming to us from jerusalem. more protests again tonight. this is in the heart of jerusalem, you can see the protesters walking through the streets presumably toward the parliament. we said at the outset, some of our commentators said at the outset, we think there are weeks to run for this conflict. do you see that looking at the size of t

benny gantz have been exected chain. benny gantz have been expected to — chain.nny gantz have been expected to stand down - chain. benny gantz have been | expected to stand down today. chain. benny gantz have been - expected to stand down today. he didn't. your thoughts on the opposition leader all who said he would offer a safety net to prime minister netanyahu if he accepted the offer by us presidentjoe biden. where does likud stand on that? well, it's unclear what the deal on the table, if it's actually real. there were differences to what we perceive as a reasonable deal and what was put by president biden. the main issue is making sure that hamas does not survive after october seven massacre and atrocities. because if they do, they will do it again and again. forthe they do, they will do it again and again. for the benefit of israel and for the benefit of the world, the muslim brotherhood alliance between hamas and hezbollah, qatar and iran, it threatens not only israel but moderate arab states, threatens the west, britain... i have been listening to people

benny gantz�*s numbers have gone the otherway.onfidence in the prime minister? , ., growing confidence in the prime minister? , . ., ~ minister? yes and no. i think the more we get _ minister? yes and no. i think the more we get away _ minister? yes and no. i think the more we get away from - minister? yes and no. i think the more we get away from 0ctober| minister? yes and no. i think the i more we get away from october 7, minister? yes and no. i think the - more we get away from october 7, the more we get away from october 7, the more netanyahu's numbers will stabilise. but he is still hugely unpopular. once we get two elections at some point, we will see some politicaljokers being thrown into the political spectrum, former prime ministers and former head of the messiah to come up they are most likely going tojoin messiah to come up they are most likely going to join israeli politics. if they do, netanyahu will have no future, because they will steal most of the votes from netanyahu and benny gantz. once an election is held, i b

i think benny gantz served _ towards a cease-fire?ved as a useful foil for i gantz served as a useful foil for netanyahu personally, because netanyahu personally, because netanyahu is a little bit to the right of gantz. but gantz is not progressive moderate by the way. in the context of the spectrum, he's a bit more centrist than that not —— netanyahu, but i think netanyahu has already shown that he's unwilling to stand up to the far right within his own cabinet. the last nine months, with the tens of thousands of civilians being killed on the palestinian side and no movement towards not only a cease—fire, but a solution for gaza, bringing the authority in. i think it shows the netanyahu government doesn't really have a plan to move forward except to just keep on have a plan to move forward except tojust keep on bombing gaza. of course, the civilian cost of this regard is tremendous on the palestinian population. thank you ve much palestinian population. thank you very much indeed. _ palestinian population. thank you very much indeed.

this is very interesting, because this was a deadline imposed by benny gantz.tanyahu for gaza, and he said if there was no plan, he would quit the government. he has been facing a lot of pressure from members of his own party who say he should return to the opposition. obviously we focus a lot on benny gantz, because he is seen as a possible candidate to be the next prime minister in the next elections in israel. so now he has cancelled this statement. he was widely expected to announce his decision to leave the government. after the rescue operation, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu asked benny gantz to reconsider his decision. so i think there was a fear here that with the decision by benny gantz to leave the government, this could give more power to those radical far right ministers in the government. but it seems that, for now, this crisis has been averted. talking about this rescue operation and having unfolded, and the high civilian death toll we have seen on the palestinian side, ijust want to get your assessment about what you think it means for an

so are you hear anything more about what the plan next is for israel with benny gantz out? as the israeli war cabinet minister well, fred, we've already heard from the israeli prime minister asking him effectively they tend to reconsider saying it's the time for unity, but from gantz's point of view, he is saying that israel cannot gain victory with netanyahu in charge. >> his conditions for staying in the government have not been met meaning he wanted a day after plan for gaza as the us vessel. so does another country soup netanyahu has been particularly vague on that front. he wants a decisive plan on how to get the hostages back. he has been very vocally supported the biden proposal, which president biden said is effectively and israeli proposal to secure that hostage-ceasefire deal. and he wants to see a quieter northern border. he wants plans for that. so that tens of thousands of israeli residents who have had to evacuate can then move back home. in a way for, for many months. now, what this does though, is it does isolate netanyahu domestically and internationally. t

we now know that benny gantz has done that.e mentioned in that press conference, jon. one of those was the defence minister, yoav gallant. the other, another former military chief, like benny gantz, was gadi eisenkot. he also had spoken about possibly standing down, hadn't he? he had done, yes. and it's not clear at the moment whether he will do as well. that remains to be seen. but as i say, he would be the removal of another very experienced voice, long military experience and at a time, of course, when israel is at war. officials from the hamas—run health ministry in gaza way say that the israeli raid on a refugee camp on saturday which led to the rescue of four hostages led to the deaths of nearly 300 palestinians. a spokesman for the armed wing of hamas says that three hostages were also killed during the operation. 0ne one of those with a us passport. we haven't been able independently to verify that claim. several hundred palestinians were also wounded in that rain, hamas accusing the israelis of carrying out a massacre

benny gantz supports this peace plan from biden.hat can we expect in terms of blinken's ability to move the dial on this issue in the region? >> remember, only a week ago that biden put out this three-point ceasefire proposal. it became apparent in the next 24 to 48 hours that israeli officials had not signed on to that deal. irrespective of this weekend, this is the u.s.'s once more, another attempt to get israel on board with the deal. given the turmoil over the weekend, given the fact that benny gantz has left the government, and that netanyahu will have to rely more on his coalition partners, it seems increasingly unlikely that this ceasefire can actually get across the line. the secretary of state will be meeting with the egyptian president sisi today and will be traveling to meet with the israel defense minister. the sticking point, that is consistently the theme, hamas saying they will not sign onto the deal unless israel agrees to full withdrawal from gaza. israel saying they will not sign onto the deal, stacy full destructi

you've been listening to the israeli war cabinet minister benny gantz.here in this announcement he says, true victory is to bring the hostages home. however, he was critical of netanyahu's strategy, saying it's time to change the national priority and bluntly said fortunately netanyahu is preventing us from victory therefore, we will leave the emergency government. i think he said with a heavy heart that coming from the war cabinet minister, that hey, gas. so what is next? i've got a team of correspondence also listening in, watching all the latest circumstances and this breaking news cnn's paula hancocks live for us in tel aviv and paul of this coming a day after four hostages were rescued by the idf in a joint mission. this was a press conference that was scheduled yesterday benny gantz delaying it till today. but very emphatic that he thinks this is the time in which to leave that's right, fred. >> and as you so we were expecting this resignation on saturday, but it has come this sunday and he has said that israel should not put up with empty hamas's

we're still waiting to hear from benny gantz. he's a former military leader. a former general. he's a member of the war council sort of the war cabinet that was put together by prime minister benjamin netanyahu at the outset of this conflict back on october 7th. he has threatened to resign several weeks ago from this war cabinet. unless benjamin netanyahu comes up with some sort of plan for the postgaza governance. we may still hear that resignation. >> all right, if you hear more about that resignation, please come back to us. >>> let's go to kelly in paris. what are we hearing from the administration today about what role the u.s. played in the hostage rescue mission and the president's last day as well in france. we'll let you go over that as well too. >> reporter: good to be with you alex. the administration has talked about general support for israel in carrying out this operation but no specific details. we know more broadly that there is intelligence support and different ways to try to help identify where hostages may be located in gaza. the u.s. was clear that there ar

benny gantz stepping down and pulling his party from the coalition, no surprise, what was your reaction was your reaction? it is telegraphed _ was your reaction? it is telegraphed he - was your reaction? it is telegraphed he said - was your reaction? it is telegraphed he said he| was your reaction? it 3 telegraphed he said he would do it and he expects benjamin netanyahu to offer a day after proposal what would happen once israel did manage to rout hamas from gaza, netanyahu failing to clearly articulate a vision for a post gaza reconstruction programme leaving benny gantz little choice but to leave the cabinet if that were to happen. where does this leave benjamin netanyahu? it where does this leave ben'amin netanyahuvfi where does this leave ben'amin netanyahu? it leave some with a cabinet of even _ netanyahu? it leave some with a cabinet of even more _ netanyahu? it leave some with a cabinet of even more members | netanyahu? it leave some with a| cabinet of even more members of parliament, ultraorthodox parties, ultranationalist parties, ultranationalist parties now, any attempt by ne

you mentioned benny gantz, and i'll get to that, this operation is appalling.hamas said this on saturday. nearly 300 palestinians killed. some 700 who were wounded, dozens of children who were among the dead. this according to the gazan health officials in the gaza strip. so they are outraged and probably further away from making some sort of deal. benjamin netanyahu for his part, and his allies, he can point to evidence, which he had little evidence before, he can achieve both stated goals in the gaza strip, defeating hamas and freeing hostages. those two goals are seen as completely at odds with each other. you can't do one and the other. you have to pick one. now, benjamin netanyahu, and we have heard this talk from his allies in the government is going to be able to say, and they're already saying that they can defeat hamas and free the hostages. the only way to free the hostages is to continue the war, continue putting military pressure on hamas. there are a lot of people in the intelligence community, in the defense community here in israel who kind of ga

i don't think that the benny gantz departure will bring down the cabinet. i mean, i think my it's a little bit hard to know exactly what goes on behind the doors of the war cabinet. my sense is that benny gantz is certainly more open than netanyahu has to the idea of having the palestinian authority play a role in governing gaza after the war. but i think honor has also been pretty much of a hardliner on rooting out hamas fighters, even at the cost of substantial numbers of palestinian civilians, deaths i'm not sure he's diametrically opposed to netanyahu on, on a lot of issues. i mean, i think he certainly has a perception as being more of a moderate but he he's not, he's certainly not a dove i believe the conversation there max boot and general mark hertling. thank you very much. liberate back hey, mom, how many should i decorate each have ran have blue. that's a really tough call. who are you if you look at the latest data? >> you're probably going to need a lot of those purple sprinkles. >> how this guy really knows his stuff i was just doing shift wedn

benny gantz claimed the war in gaza lacked a long—term plan. resignations from the demands from too far right ministers in the governing coalition to join the governing coalition to join the cabinet instead, including the cabinet instead, including the security minister. meanwhile, benjamin netanyahu has criticised an israeli military plan that will pause fighting to allow more aid into gaza. he is facing pressure from the far right to reject any pauses until hamas is totally defeated. our middle east corresponded jon donnison has more from jerusalem on the situation. i don't think the disbanding of the war cabinet is going to have a significant impact, really, on israeli strategy in the war in gaza. but it is significant because the war cabinet was set up in the days following the october 7 attack really as a symbol of political unity. that political unity has evaporated. so you have prime minister netanyahu looking increasingly isolated, with the resignation last week of benny gantz, the centrist opposition leader, and his ally, gadi eisenkot

we now know that benny gantz has done that. one of those was the defence minister, yoav gallant. the other, another former military chief, like benny gantz, was gadi eisenkot. he also had spoken about possibly standing down, hadn't he? he had done, yes. and it's not clear at the moment whether he will do as well. that remains to be seen. but as i say, he would be the removal of another very experienced voice, long military experience and at a time, of course, when israel is at war. officials from the hamas—run health ministry in gaza say that the israeli raid on a refugee camp on saturday — which led to the rescue of four hostages — led to the deaths of nearly 300 palestinians. a spokesman for the armed wing of hamas says that three hostages were also killed during the operation. we haven't been able independently to verify that claim. several hundred palestinians were also wounded in the raid. hamas accused the israelis of carrying out a massacre. that phrase was echoed by the european union's top diplomatjosep borrell — who d

and of course, without benny gantz who there's no dove. but without him.hen netanyahu could be even more beholden to those far-right ministers in his governments. so that could lead to perhaps an intensification of the war with hamas in the gaza strip. i think more likely what we are going to see is less receptive if we can use that phrase towards the possibility of a hostage deal. indeed, both itamar ben gvir, the national security minister, of finance, minister bezalel smotrich which have already said that if that hostage deal that was announced by president biden and which the american say israel has already accepted. if that goes ahead and ultimately leads to a full cessation of hostilities with hamas that they would view that as a capitulation to hamas, as a defeat. and they would therefore bolt the government meaning that netanyahu's government would indeed collapse elections would be held and opinion polls suggest if they were held, right now, benny gantz would win and netanyahu it lose so that's one possibility i suppose ultimate also for netanyahu

centers opposition leader benny gantz announces resignation early this month.d the war it lacked a long-term strategy plan. it came as tensions mounted along israel's northern border this weekend. there areith hezbollah, raising fears of a wider conflict. mr. met yahoo! met with a special envoy -- netanyahu met with a special envoy on monday. >> i don't think the disbanding of the war cabinet is going to have a significant impact really on israeli strategy in the war in gaza, but it is symbolic, because you have to remember that the war cabinet was set up in the days after the october 7 attack by hamas really as a symbol of political unity, while the truth is a political unity is evaporated. so you have the prime minister looking increasingly isolated, with the resignation last week of benny gantz, the centrist opposition leader and his ally. both of them relatively moderate figures, both men with vast military experience. in particular, some and i think the americans were keen to hear their views. so now mr. netanyahu will be calling the shots and making the d

benny gantz, a moderate voice and one of three voting members of the war cabinet has resigned, accuse prime minister netanyahu of standing in the way of real victory and calling for new elections this fall. it leaves the biden with a more far right government coalition to work with and begs the question how will this impact the gaza cease-fire deal president biden outlined last month. our andrea mitchell asked secretary blinken about that earlier today in cairo. >> let me be clear. israeli has accepted the proposal. in fact, they were critical in putting it forward. ha is what is the official position of the israeli government and the prime minister. so the only party that has not accepted, the only party thats ha not said yes is hamas. >> nbc's matt bradley is reporting from jerusalem. rob d'amico is a former member of the fbi's rescue team. sheena rubin is an israeli correspondent with "the washington post." matt, blinken says israel's official position is in support of this cease-fire. do we know if hamas says yes, if it happens? >> reporter: well, i mean you just heard the man. he

benny gantz claimed the war in gaza lacked a long—term plan. the resignations from the demands

but we now know today that that did not reverses decision and said benny gantz is departing. the government is also, of course, coming on the heels of the operation that you just heard ben talk about that rescue operation that occurred yesterday. now, today, the nationals purity adviser, jake sullivan, was asked about that on cnn and whether the us was comfortable, given the toll on civilians, take a listen to what he had to say the president himself has said in recent days that the palestinian people are going through sheer hell in this conflict because hamas is operating in a way that puts them in the cross-fire that holds hostages, right in the heart of crowded civilian areas. >> unfortunately, notably, we're going to continue to see ongoing conflict and military operations in which israel makes efforts to recover its citizens. and frankly to recover american citizens what we would much prefer to see is a ceasefire where the hostages come out peacefully so you heard the national security adviser they're continuing to push for a diplomatic solution that is what we continue

mr netanyahu had called on benny gantz to remain in the war cabinet.media platform x. our correspondentjon donnison is injerusalem and put the announcement into context. well, i don't think it was a shock because he has been threatening to resign for some time. and he, in fact, was due to give a press conference yesterday and postponed that when we got news of the raid in the centre of gaza taking place. it's not going to bring down the government of benjamin netanyahu, who still maintains his majority in the knesset. but what it does do is i guess it isolates mr netanyahu a little bit at a time when he is calling for unity, and it removes a voice of experience and a more centrist voice from that war cabinet. you have to remember that the coalition cabinet is made up of, really, people with very little experience. that cannot be said of benny gantz, who is a former army chief of staff, a former defence minister, and someone with a long history in the military at a time when israel is now at war. and what it means, i think, is that those further to the

but as you mentioned, that did not stop benny gantz from leaving the war cabinet. now gantz did demand since may the families of israel, benjamin netanyahu to come up with a post war plan. when they failed to materialize on saturday, well, he decided to quit, saying that benjamin netanyahu is in the way of real victory for israel and called for elections this fall. netanyahu responded on his x account saying this is not a time to abandon the campaign but to join forces. frances? >> claudio lavanga for us, claudio, thank you. >>> donald trump is expected to speak with a new york probation officer today. three source tell nbc news the former president will have a virtual interview from his home at mar-a-lago. this comes after mr. trump held his first rally since his conviction. nbc's vaughn hillyard has more. >> reporter: former president trump turning the campaign trail into a defiance tour. >> vote for trump. we want a felon! >> reporter: on his first campaign swing since his guilty verdict since falsifying business records. >> the people are watching and they know

let's start first with benny gantz quitting the emergency government. this was not a surprise. this was long anticipated. it also allows netanyahu to stay in power. so what does this move actually do? two and what is the fallout from this hi, jessica, i think first what this movie does is that it takes away from benjamin netanyahu this sort of bulletproof vest that he wore in the last eight months that was called benny gantz and this bulletproof vest defendant ateneo around the world because it gave his government, let's say more moderate appeal. >> if you can call it this way, i'm not sure that's even an accurate description, but the more let's radical right-wing aroma. >> okay. and now it's gone and i think this will change the way many governments around the world, first and foremost, the biden administration, but also governments in europe, governments in the ehr world, the way they look at the israeli government. and this is something we haven't had for 80 months. and i think this is a whole new chapter now with how the world looks at this war and so to that point, some an

did they could mark a critical moment in israel's war with hamas today, benny gantz, a key member of the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet is expected to announce whether he will go through with his vow to leave the israeli government at a popular former defense minister said last month that he and his national unity the party would resign unless netanyahu came up with a plan for gaza's postwar future as well as bringing home the hostages. >> cnn has been wiedemann is an beirut for us and ben today was gantz's deadline for a naval plan do we have any idea if he may have changed his mind about resigning amara before we get to the question of benny gantz's political future, we're receiving reports from gaza that there's a major israeli military operation in the central part of the gaza strip focused on the nuseirat refugee camp and bidded bella were told that the main hospital they're the an aqsa martyrs hospital has already received 16 bodies and there are reports of hundreds of people injured, including many women and children. now, regarding benny gantz, last m

we now know that benny gantz has done that.e was the defence minister, yoav gallant. the other, another former military chief, like benny gantz, was gadi eisenkot. he also had spoken about possibly standing down, hadn't he? he had done, yes. and it's not clear at the moment whether he will do as well. that remains to be seen. but as i say, he would be the removal of another very experienced voice, long military experience and at a time, of course, when israel is at war. that was the latest from jerusalem. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the weather for the week ahead is perhaps not the story you once, no significant sunshine or warmth, in fact the story in armagh sets the scene, cloudy skies with light rain and drizzle. that rain sinking steadily southwards and it will clear away from eastern england and south—east england during monday morning. behind it, this northerly wind and this cooler air source starts to kick in across the country. so a rash of showers, a cold, brisk wind driving those showers in off exposed

netanyahu rival benny gantz resigning from the war cabinet

details about the rate over the weekend it was a major political shakeup overnight we know that benny gantzrom their positions in the israeli government. ashley: thank you very much, trey yingst in tel aviv, let's get into what trey just reported as he reported israeli minister benny gantz resigned from the war cabinet, he said benjamin netanyahu is standing in israel's way to real victory, let's bring in kt mcfarland to talk about it, good morning, israel's government is divided, i want to get to the benny gantz first what do you think he meant by that and is is the problem for biden's peace initiative. >> the israeli government and israeli people are not divided on the important issue of do they pursue award and eliminate hamas, they may be personality issues in the bidens they don't like benjamin netanyahu, they are good have a different policy is going to be the same policy to finish the job and destroy hamas. , the wall street journal reported that the white house is close to finalizing a new defense treaty with saudi arabia moving away from israel and hamas a little bit, this could be

an benny gantz and his party resigning from the israeli war cabinet, a huge development. we have more on that in a moment. >>> meanwhile, gaza's ministry of health says more than 270 sa palestinians were killed yesterday, 700 injured. israelis officials are disputing this number. new reaction to the number of on palestinians killed. >> civilians were killed. that is tragic. it is heartbreaking. i said before that the palestinian people are going through hell in this war. they are caught in the crossfire. hamas hides among civilian infrastructure, they ghhide underground.tu it puts the palestinian people t in harm's way. pe >> when we snatched the hostages, when we extracted them out, the forces came under extensive attack in an attempt to kill both them and the hostages. ♪ ♪ >>> right now, president biden was on his >>way home, having wrapped up his trip to france is to commemorate 80 years since due date -- d-day. donald trump declined to visit o the cemetery when he was president. >> the idea that we are able to avoid being engaged in major battles is just not realistic

i will start with you, elliott, first on the resignation of benny gantz, he had given an ultimatum. he wanted a plan to bring the hostages home. there are still over 100 and gaza, but he also wanted a post-war plan for gaza. his resignation while not unexpected, he did express his frustration with netanyahu, right he did. >> and as you say, it wasn't a surprise that he announced his resignation, but that doesn't make it any less impact for benny gantz was seen as a kind of moderating influence on prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he ensured for that he was in the war cabinet along with netanyahu, along with defense minister yoav gallant. and that's specifically the far-right ministers in benjamin netanyahu's governing coalition would not be in the war cabinet. so all of the decisions and the prosecution of israel's war against hamas since the hamas terrorist attacks of october the seventh has been a result of decisions made by the war cabinet. it hasn't just been netanyahu and it hasn't been netanyahu and his far-right ministers. but what's going to happen now is first of all, neta

show that benny gantz's move to leave the government happened for him to lead. meaning in the response from the israeli public was that gantz's number went down and a lot of his voters went to his two other opposition parties. and in average, he lost four seats by, in the polls, by withdrawing from the government and those four seats did not go to an attorney. they went to two other of netanyahu's political rivals. so for benny gantz, it is pretty clear that if he wanted to leave the government should have done it long before yeah, that's very interesting that you point that out over the weekend, of course, as we saw that hostage rescue that we just watched the video of, we now know, right, that the us aided israel in terms of mainly in tel support no, boots on the ground. >> the us has been very clear that even though there was a helicopter extraction near that pier that was built by the us to deliver aid. that pier had nothing to do with the operation. what do you make of this sort of dance of tough rhetoric and negotiations, but obviously quite enduring milita

obviously, the politics in israel very, very dicey with benny gantz. coalition government. but it was something that the israeli public has been demanding. and now they want more action. they want to see the prime minister lean-in on getting a deal to get these hostages out. >> of course the toll here was very high in terms of palestinian life. it all so served to highlight some of the tactics that hamas uses talk a little bit more about where these hostages were found. and why there was perhaps so much collateral damage. obviously, much of it should be laying at the feet of the israeli forces that invaded here. but that's not the only thing at play, not at all. the case you're right, it was despicable. >> display of how hamas d values palestinian life. so many very clear these hostages were held in private civilian homes they were there for months and they were in the midst of what everyone in those areas new was a civilian areas. so israel, by finding these individuals, by rescuing them, it was clear that there were going to be civilian casualties. h

benny gantz announced he's leaving the unity cabinet. netanyahu reached out to him on x saying unfortunately -- sorry, benny gantz said this. >> l that we are leaving the wartime cabinet today. with a heavy heart but with a whole heart. we present ourselves today to the battle for the fate of the state of israel for generations to come. >> john: netanyahu reached out to him on x saying israel is an existential war on several fronts. it's not time to abandon the campaign. it's time to join forces. my doors open to any zionist party ready to get on and ensuring the safety of our citizens." benny gantz had suggested that netanyahu is prolonging the war to try to stay in office. >> i don't see -- i'm not a spokesman for the government. i'm not in any official pos position. the prime minister is not the commander in chief. the prime minister has answer to a war cabinet that has to answer to a wider cabinet and then that cabinet has to answer to the people of israel. i strongly believe that if netanyahu were to go tomorrow we would have pretty

benny gantz wasn't there. he didn't have any influence and the fact that he might leave.ow is not a very dramatic question because this government has still a solid, solid, the majority, as long as the right-wing us are salt leaving and it's always aiming everything to the right fingers, those extreme racist, nationalistic here, right wing partners and as long as de stay and they have no reason to leave, this government will continue, will benny gantz and also without him gideon lavy, we always appreciate hearing your perspective. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you well, one tragic note to what is otherwise a joyous occasion in israel the father of one of those rescued hostages, almog meir jan died in his on saturday. >> that is according to israel's emergency services authorities found you'll see me unconscious when they went to notify him of his sons rescue and he was later declared dead in his home stay with cnn we'll be right back the most anticipated moment of this election. >> and the stakes couldn't be higher. the president and former president, one sta

course, we were also anticipating an announcement from benjamin netanyahu's war cabinet member, benny gantz, about his resignation. and then of course, the news came that the four hostages were rescued then that news conference was postponed, and then benjamin netanyahu called on benny gantz, not to withdraw that right now is a time for unity what do you make of this and why does netanyahu need benny gantz i think it's a parliamentary system in israel, so you need as many people in your as possible he doesn't have a huge sort of majority many answers are very popular figure and benny gantz is also basically, i think quite rightly said danielle netanyahu needs to have a plan for the day after in gaza that goes beyond just saying we don't really have a plan. >> i also want to return to what kind of leighton was saying. look if this was a us special operations raid? there's think about the asam have been loud and rave. the obama administration debated what to do for literally months. and one of their big considerations was dropping a bomb on the compound would kill by low of people in a city i

but let's start with an ultimatum that by benny gantz, what is the us's trying to get him to stay what could this mean for the israeli political landscape if he does leave? >> well, in the immediate short term, nothing really because his party is not a member of the ruling coalition now, benny gantz, a former army chief of staff, former defense minister. he was the main political opponent of prime minister netanyahu before for the war. but after the war began, he joined a national unity cabinet. he's a member of this so-called war cabinet with him, leaving it's certainly remove is somebody who was considered a somewhat moderating force on the prime minister. he's somebody who has maintained good relations with the americans. in fact, he's gone to washington, dc since the war began on more than one occasion without the actual cool permission of the prime minister for him to leave it means that that sort of counter balance to netanyahu's perhaps more bellicose inclinations is gone. and it means that, that really basically opens up for vacuum into which the likes of which national securit

what benny gantz resigning from the government likely does, and that there are concerns that it pushes netanyahu further to the right that gantz was the one that was pushing this latest deal from biden. that is that the israeli deal. he says that he wants hamas to sign onto. >> are you concerned that the shakeup it makes it less possible? >> or likely that they could get to a deal here good evening, jessica. thanks for having me on. >> i don't know that i can calibrate that because that would involve getting inside the head of hamas what i will say is that ganz is resignation makes prime minister netanyahu more dependent on the goodwill and graces of president joe biden. >> and that's ironic because gans is residing running out of frustration for netanyahu, really not aligning himself with president biden's directives over the last several months to pair his military operation with same day governance operations because ultimately, hamas can only be defeated by draining their political capital through effective governance through a palestinian authority at operation in the rest of gaza

that's what the resignations of benny gantz and others tell us. there is a fundamental split within israel about where this is going. you can use military force to degrade hamas but then what? there's still no consensus of then what. on hamas' side, you don't see a willingness to agree to the kinds of ideas that president biden is putting out there. so this is a temporary moment. quite honestly, none of the underlying conditions that have haunted gaza over the last eight months are changed. we're still where we were, quite honestly, the day before this hostage rescue. >> jon meacham, let me take to you the framework that richard just so well laid out here. there was, of course, this deep moment of euphoria and such relief to see those hostages reunited with their families. we shouldn't look past that. we're all so pleased. but it didn't change anything. there is suffering in gaza. netanyahu, his grip on power seems deeply threatened at the moment, but we also aren't sure what would come next. what is your sort of big picture analysis of where thin

and benny gantz, among others, was more or less in favour of a ceasefire, wasn't he? o believed there should have necessarily been a prolonged pause, because the emphasis should shift towards getting the remaining hostages out. the complaint against netanyahu from his many political enemies in israel is that he has neglected opportunities and potential deals to get the hostages out. we've just had this operation which got out four hostages, but if you think back to the temporary ceasefire that happened last november, they got out more than 100. i mean, the americans must be furious that the whole thing has turned out like this. secretary of state antony blinken this week is on, i think, his eighth middle east tour. he must be tearing his hair out, i would have thought, because the politics of trying to make a ceasefire work are really, really complicated. biden said to the israelis, "you have effectively won this now. "hamas can't do again what they did on the seventh of "october. "it's time for this war to stop." there are demonstrations by israelis, saying we must ha

and a resignation by a war cabinet member benny gantz as a direct protest against an attack on you. secretary blinken's set of just a short time ago that is focus remains on pushing the biden peace proposal posel forward. listen the best way. the most effective way to get everyone home, including the american hostages, is through this proposal, is through the ceasefire deal it's on the table right now. that's what we're focused on. that's what we're determined that see achieved president biden announced the peace proposal on the table right now and said it was an israeli proposal. >> i want to bring our correspondent in tel aviv right now, oren liebermann into this for us are in good to have you back in israel? right now, our chief national security correspondent, alex mark, is here with being the cnn newsroom, but or in these new details that are emerging about how this israeli raid unfolded and how the us military provided support, walk us through what we're learning now well, this was a massive military operation from the israeli military that took weeks of planning, as well as h

benny gantz is expected to make an announcement in the next hour or so.t's believed he will resign from the war cabinet over benjamin netanyahu's handling of the war. the war cabinet is not the same as the government. but this is going to be a blow of some sort to benjamin netanyahu. joining me now is ronan bergman author of the important book rise and kill first. the secret history of israel's targeted assassinations. ronan this is a complicated one. because on some levels, there's a way of looking at yesterday and the release of the rescue of these four hostages as one of the best days that netanyahu has had since october 7th. benny gantz was in fact, supposed to leave the government yesterday. he postponed that. i don't know if you know whether he's actually leaving today but give me a sense of where the israeli government is. where the israeli people are in this day, the day after this dramatic hostage rescue. >> so yesterday when the news broke out in israel there was a wave of happiness. after many many days that this war brought no good news. then