Netanyahu’s main challenger plans ‘mega-disengagement,’ warns Likud minister

A top Likud minister accused Benny Gantz of promoting a platform that could result in the expulsion of tens of thousands of Israelis from Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, slammed candidate Benny Gantz in a recent interview, focusing on the Israel Resilience party leader’s first major political speech last week. Gantz recently emerged as Netanyahu’s primary foe in Israel’s April 9 elections.

While Gantz has portrayed himself as a security-first centrist with a strong military background, Levin accused the former IDF Chief of Staff of plotting to displace Israelis from their homes in Judea and Samaria in an interview with Arutz Sheva.

Specifically, Levin identified Gantz’s reference to “preserv[ing] the settlement blocs” in Judea and Samaria as an “expression of Tzipi Livni” and a coded reference to “mega disengagement” resulting in the “expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews from their homes, with the demolition of dozens of communities.”

Levin also characterized Gantz’s positions as “leftist clichés” and blasted the political newcomer’s “arrogance.” Levin claimed that it is unrealistic for Gantz to think that he can run the nation “without any experience, not in the political sphere and not in the economic realm, without having spent a day in the Knesset.”

“I think this shows contempt for the public and a lack of real understanding of the prime minister’s role,” Levin added.

Levin is not the first Likud member to level attacks at Gantz, who recently surged in the polls and looks poised to present the current prime minister with a significant challenge in the upcoming elections.

Gantz is reportedly mulling an alliance with Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid, which polling reveals could result in a second place finish for Netanyahu’s party.