Gantz tours western capitals as rift in Israeli war cabinet grows

Trip to the UK comes straight after a visit to Washington that provoked anger from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz will travel to London on Wednesday, after a high-profile visit to Washington that provoked a furious response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Gantz, who according to a number of Israeli polls is the country’s most likely next prime minister, will meet UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, a source familiar with the trip told media.

A political source in London has also confirmed that the trip and meeting will go ahead.

The visit adds to growing speculation that Israel’s closest allies are increasingly frustrated with Mr Netanyahu’s intransigence on the Gaza war, particularly regarding the desperate need to distribute more humanitarian aid in the strip.

Mr Gantz’s conversations in London will focus largely on the same issues discussed in Washington, the source said. Other meetings are being planned but remain unconfirmed.

The source also confirmed reports that Mr Netanyahu’s office has instructed the Israeli Foreign Ministry to stonewall requests from Mr Gantz during his trip.

“The key message here is that Netanyahu prefers his political decisions over the interests of Israel,” they added.

A source within the Israeli government suggested that the meeting with Lord Cameron would cover the issue of getting a ceasefire in place in Gaza.

It is also understood that the Israeli Foreign Ministry has been instructed not to help facilitate the trip in any way, in a move labelled “incredibly petty”, by a leading academic.

“That shows you the level of leadership in the Netanyahu government,” said Prof Yossi Mekelberg, of the Chatham House think tank. “But this trip is a clear sign both from Washington and London that they’re starting to look at the day after Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

The professor, alongside other Israeli political sources, told media that US President Joe Biden was “furious” that Mr Netanyahu was “deliberately trying to harm or hinder the plans for the Biden administration’s plans for Gaza”.

The conclusion in the two capitals was that Mr Netanyahu was “not an ally or a partner” so they were now attempting to “look for the responsible adult” to work with in a postwar scenario.

“Gantz is more open to peace negotiations and the Americans are fed up in dealing with Netanyahu,” the Middle East specialist said. “There is also the policy issue, in that they know there is a danger for the Middle East to implode if he continues being prime minister and supported by the very far right.”

There is speculation that both Mr Gantz, a former chief of staff for Israel’s armed forces, and his colleague Gadi Eisenkot, might quit the five-man war cabinet if Mr Netanyahu fails to deliver a ceasefire.

“If they do leave they will have to justify it with some fairly serious criticisms, because otherwise there’s no reason for them to leave,” said a political source inside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

He added that something might have changed within the war cabinet with a dispute over how the war was being run as well the issue of Mr Netanyahu’s “conflict of interest” in running the government while facing criminal charges over alleged corruption. Mr Netanyahu strongly denies the allegations.

There is also a view both in Israel and the West that Mr Gantz is most likely to become the next prime minister if Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition collapses.