Netanyahu: Gantz will expel 90,000 Jews from homes

The prime minister issued his warning as he spoke to leaders of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that if the Blue and White list led by former IDF chief Benny Gantz forms the next Israeli government, the result will be the eviction of Israelis living in Judea and Samaria.

Referring also to Yair Lapid, who fills the second spot on the Blue and White slate running in next month’s Knesset election, the prime minister told local leaders from Judea and Samaria: “Lapid and Gantz are still held captive to the idea that the only way to secure the future of the State of Israel is to shrink it, to uproot 80,000 to 90,000 Jews, keep our heads down, and hope that the Arabs will recognize Israel.”

Netanyahu was accompanied by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on his visit to the ruins of the ancient city of Shilo in Samaria. “We are in the territory of our homeland,” the prime minister asserted.

Speaking to the local leaders, the prime minister said that his policy would be “exactly the opposite” of that promoted by Blue and White.

“They want a future based on vulnerability, we want a future based on strength,” said Netanyahu.

Gantz said in a February interview that Israel needs “to find a way so that we’re not ruling over other people,” a reference to the Arabs living in Judea and Samaria.

He also appeared to support the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, in which some 8,000 Jews were forcibly evicted from their homes, saying, “The disengagement was carried out with political considerations by the State of Israel. Very high marks were achieved by all parties involved in their ability not to tear the nation apart when it was carried out.”