Israeli media: Gantz visits Washington without coordination with Netanyahu. The latter is angry

Hebrew media revealed on Saturday that member of the war council in the Israeli emergency government, Benny Gantz, will go to Washington on Sunday to meet American officials, without coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that Gantz “will go to Washington (Sunday) to hold a series of meetings, one of which is with US Vice President Kamala Harris, without coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The Hebrew newspaper said that Netanyahu “is angry at Gantz’s move, which comes in the interest of his party (National Unity) at the expense of the current government, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s belief.”

Gantz announced earlier on Saturday, according to the newspaper, that he “will travel to Washington on Sunday, where he will meet with Harris and members of the US Congress from both the Democratic and Republican parties.”

The newspaper indicated that “Minister Gantz is expected to return to Israel next Wednesday, as his visit will include a stop in Britain.”

The newspaper said that Gantz “aims, through his visit to Washington and London, to work to preserve the legitimacy of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, strengthen the security arrangement in Lebanon, and enhance American pressure on the mediators regarding the file of prisoners detained in Gaza.”

It also aims to “conduct a dialogue on the issues of normalization agreements with Arab countries, which will also form part of the political plan to eliminate the rule of Hamas, and ensure the continuation of American aid to Israel, in addition to strengthening the strategic alliance between Tel Aviv and Washington,” according to the same source.

Gantz’s visit comes, according to the newspaper, “at a time of negotiations over the prisoner deal that has been ongoing for a long time, and in light of reports in the United States that the American administration is beginning to run out of patience with Netanyahu’s behavior in the war, and allegations that he is being restrained by his two extremist partners in the government (Security Minister). Itamar Ben Gvir and (Finance Minister) Bezalel Smotrich.”

Since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, on October 7, media reports have reported that there are deep disagreements between Netanyahu and Gantz , who joined the war council several days after it broke out.

The most important of these differences, according to Israeli media reports, are how to manage the war, the file of Israeli prisoners in Gaza, and the day after the end of the war.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli war on Gaza has resulted in tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian and UN data, which necessitated Israel’s appearance, for the first time since 1948, before the International Court of Justice. On charges of committing “genocide” crimes.