Israeli 'Crisis' May Lead to 'Military Coup' and Palestinian State Creation - Expert

War Cabinet Minister and former Army General Benny Gantz has threatened to resign unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts his plan for the resolution of the Gaza conflict that could lead to Palestinian statehood.

Tel Aviv faces increasing demands to resolve the Gaza War amid domestic toil, an expert has told Sputnik.

His comments come after Israel's War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz threatened to resign unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts Gantz’s plan for the resolution of the Gaza conflict.

The plan in question involves the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the creation of a multinational civilian administration.

While Gantz set the deadline for this plan at June 8, Netanyahu claimed that acquiescing to these demands would result in a defeat for Israel.

Commenting on this development, Tel Aviv-based international relations expert Dr. Simon Tsipis explained that Gantz’s plan, if adopted, would ultimately result in the creation of a Palestinian state – something that Zionist factions who currently control the Israeli government vehemently oppose.

Netanyahu thus finds himself in quite a predicament as giving concessions to Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who previously urged Netanyahu to declare that Israel has no intent to establish military control over Gaza, would cause Zionist leaders like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to pull out of the government coalition, and vice versa.

“This is clearly the biggest crisis in Israel’s history,” Dr. Tsipis remarked, arguing that the Israeli government now finds itself on the brink of collapse.

He also highlighted another aspect of the problem: both Gantz and Gallant are former Israeli generals.

“There may be a risk of a military coup, because if Gantz and Gallant – they are former generals and former heads of the general staff – if they decide to seize power and call upon their former colleagues, then this move would mean a military coup in Israel, the ouster of Benjamin Netanyahu by convincing him to relinquish his power,” Dr. Tsipis speculated.

Furthermore, agreeing to Gantz’s proposal would also be problematic for Netanyahu because the former would then likely call for snap elections – elections that Netanyahu would inevitably lose if no foul play were to be involved, the expert suggested.

Thus, whether he makes concessions to Gantz or not, either way, Netanyahu may be looking at the collapse of his government and the end of his political career.

Regarding the upcoming visit to Israel by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is expected to hold talks with Netanyahu, Dr. Tsipis argued that Sullivan essentially represents the interests of the US Democratic Party that currently holds powers.

“The Democrats are interested in, firstly, the peaceful resolution of the Israeli war with the Gaza Strip, secondly, in the proclamation of the Palestinian state and thirdly, in Netanyahu’s ouster,” he claimed, arguing that Sullivan would thus try to persuade Netanyahu to agree to Gantz’s plan.