Bnei Gantz tried to hunt down two birds with one stone in his meeting with the PA chairman: to prepare the ground for a political process with the Palestinians and to position himself as the leader of the center-left bloc. Ganz’s meeting with Abu Mazen is important for the resumption of dialogue between Israel and the PA, and it is also a milestone in the battle for the leadership of the center-left camp.
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz’s meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas continues to occupy the media in Israel and the Arab world.
Jordan is outraged that it received a brief retrospective update on the meeting. The Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported on January 1 that there was disappointment in the Jordanian leadership from the meeting and she asked why the PA chairman did not discuss with Defense Minister Bnei Gantz, who is an important component in the Israeli government, the resumption of negotiations and the political process.
Jordan is angry that it received a brief retrospective update on the meeting between Gantz and Mahmoud Abbas, and asks why PA chairman Gantz did not discuss Defense Minister Gantz, who is an important component in the Israeli government, the resumption of negotiations and the political process
Some senior Israeli politicians and journalists would very much like to have flies on the wall in the room of Defense Minister Bnei Gantz’s home in Rosh HaAyin, where a four-way meeting between him and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas took place. It was a meeting without assistants and advisers, where anyone could speak freely and whose content was not necessarily reported to Prime Minister Bennett.
It is very likely that Defense Minister Bnei Gantz explained to Mahmoud Abbas his political view, according to which he supports the two-state solution and the division of Jerusalem. His positions on this issue are well known and no secret, he must also have explained to the PA chairman that because of the current composition of the coalition it is impossible to create a political horizon and resume negotiations with the PA from the point where he stopped.
Bnei Gantz has ambitions to become prime minister, it is not clear when, Since it is not known with certainty that the rotation between Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will indeed take place. Israeli politics is full of upheavals. Ganz has so far rejected all the offers of seduction submitted to him by Benjamin Netanyahu, but things can also change.
Netanyahu himself refrained from criticizing Bnei Gantz’s meeting with Abu Mazen despite the Likud’s harsh statements against it.
In the meantime, Bnei Gantz is trying to position himself as a security guard, as the political-security successor of the late Yitzhak Rabin. Therefore, the meetings with the PA chairman should be seen not only in the security aspect but also in the political context.
Meanwhile, Bnei Gantz is trying to position himself as a security guard, as the political-security successor of the late Yitzhak Rabin. Therefore, the meetings with the PA chairman should be seen not only in the security aspect but also in the political context.
Bnei Gantz tries to renew Mahmoud Abbas’ training in the eyes of the Israeli public as a Palestinian partner for peaceThe PA chairman also plays this game. According to senior PA officials, he believes that Bnei Gantz is much more serious than Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid and that he can lead Israel to peace. She did not forget the boastful statements of Bnei Gantz when he entered politics and boasted of the number of Arabs he killed during his military service.
It should be noted that senior PA official Hussein a-Sheikh, the right-hand man of Mahmoud Abbas, who was present at a meeting at Bnei Gantz’s home, said: “It was a meeting of heroes,” he said.
A senior PA official told me that the Palestinians are looking for a brave and charismatic Israeli politician who can make “peace of the brave” with them, as Yitzhak Rabin did with Yasser Arafat.
The meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas helps Bnei Gantz position himself as a key player in the political system. He is trying to mark himself as the new hope for a political breakthrough with the Palestinians when the time comes, the only question is when it will come.
In the meantime, he succeeds, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid do not really stand in his way. Yair Lapid is eager to maintain the rotation at all costs in order to win the position of next prime minister.
A senior PA official told me that the Palestinians are looking for a brave and charismatic Israeli politician who can make the “peace of the brave” with them, as Rabin did at the time.
Bnei Gantz, who was considered “naive” at the beginning of his political career and believed in Benjamin Netanyahu, is already well integrated into the Israeli internal political game and also in Middle Eastern politics. He met with the PA chairman even though he knows his name stars at the top of the list of Israeli “war criminals” that Mahmoud Abbas is demanding be prosecuted in the criminal court in The Hague. Mahmoud Abbas does not hide this and according to sources in the PA he is He explained to Bnei Gantz that the problem was solved and that the Palestinian petition could be withdrawn from the International Court of Justice in The Hague if Israel made a political gesture. Significance towards the Palestinians.
Mahmoud Abbas agreed to come to Bnei Gantz’s house in Rosh HaAyin on a sort of reciprocal visit. The first meeting between them took place at Mahmoud Abbas’ house in Ramallah, where he also holds his monthly meetings with the Israeli Shin Bet chief.
Meanwhile, According to Mahmoud Abbas’ advisers, he did not pay any currency for the meeting with Bnei Gantz. Mahmoud al-Habash, the PA chairman’s adviser, boasted to the Arab media and said that “the concessions and rights we were given (from Bnei Gantz) will make time for the Palestinian citizen to fight the occupation.”
“We achieved and did not pay a political price,” he stressed.
Bnei Gantz erred in not charging Mahmoud Abbas any price in terms of stopping incitement and paying salaries to terrorists and their families, or public condemnation of the recent wave of terrorist attacks. The fact that they both refuse to be photographed together and to transfer the photos to the media also indicates that they are afraid of paying the price of their meeting on the Palestinian and Israeli streets.
Ganz was wrong when he did not charge Mahmoud Abbas a price for stopping incitement and paying salaries to terrorists and their families, or public condemnation of the recent wave of terrorist attacks. They also refuse to be photographed together
Brave leaders need to stand with great courage and openness after their actions. Therefore, the two would do well if in the next meeting between them they spread a common picture of the two and burn the consciousness in Israeli and Palestinian public opinion that there is a dialogue between the PA and Israel even if it is not complete.
The question is whether Bnei Gantz is betting on the right horse on the Palestinian side, Mahmoud Abbas is considered a “dead horse” on the Palestinian street, he is already 86 years old and has serious medical problems, in addition to his status is at a low ebb in the Palestinian street, especially after Operation Wall Guard and the assassination of Nizar Banat by PA security forces. Of the Hamas movement has become very strong and the battle of succession at the top of Fatah is taking place intensely behind the PA chairman’s back.
Bnei Gantz is well aware that Mahmoud Abbas lives on borrowed time, so he should also develop ties with other key figures at the top of Fatah, such as: Mahmoud El-Alul, Jabril Rajoub, Hussein a-Sheikh and Majed Faraj. Most of whom are in conflict, it is likely that one of them will be Mahmoud Abbas’ successor in due course.
Fatah, Israel, the United States and moderate Arab states will not allow Hamas to take over the West Bank, After what happened in the Gaza Strip in 2007, this story is over. The Fatah movement will continue to control the West Bank, with or without elections, with the IDF and the GSS backing its government.
It is not inconceivable that Bnei Gantz will pave the way for the use of Mahmoud Abbas in the internal battle for the leadership of the center-left camp in the Israeli political arena, before Mahmoud Abbas steps down from the political stage. Ganz plans to try and “drink” votes from Merav Michaeli’s Labor Party and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party.
There is a hidden political tension between Bnei Gantz and Yair Lapid, Gantz’s advantage is the fact that he is a former chief of staff compared to Yair Lapid’s ridiculous military career as a newspaper reporter in the “camp”.
Bnei Gantz has many more opportunities to prove himself in the security field thanks to his position as defense minister and to position himself as “Mr. Security” in Israeli public opinion if he acts correctly and demonstrates harsh hand against Palestinian terrorism and takes military action against Iran’s branches in the region.
It can also strengthen its position by developing Israel’s security ties with Egypt, Jordan and the Arab states that have signed the “Abraham Accords” in the past year.
It is not inconceivable that the road to using Mahmoud Abbas in the internal battle for the leadership of the center-left camp in the Israeli political arena will be paved before Mahmoud Abbas steps down from the political stage.
But, Yair Lapid is not a political killer, he will not let Bnei Gantz push him aside. Even Meirav Michaeli, who rehabilitated the Labor Party, will not stand aside and allow him to “drink” seats from her party. Bnei Gantz’s meeting with Mahmoud Abbas will probably also be a milestone at the beginning of the battle for the leadership of the center-left camp in Israel as the election date approaches.