Chairman of the National Unity party, MK Benny Gantz, made a statement against the renewal of the legislation of parts of the judicial reform, claiming that, “it is playing into the hands of Israel's enemies.”
"Sinwar chose to attack Israel because of the anti-governmental protests. To repeat the same mistake, is showing total carelessness. I’m calling on members of the coalition – don't weaken Israel," Gantz said.
"Nearly two years ago, I stood here and warned that anti-governmental protests would shake the country – and that's what happened. If the protests start up again, that will happen again. This time we know how serious it could be. We know the price, and the protest will be twofold. If needed, we will do the same, while adhering to the law. We will not legitimize draft refusal, period. But yes – we will act with determination to protect our country and fight for its image: Jewish, democratic, strong and secure," he added.
Regarding the hostage deal, he said, "At least twice we missed the possibility of moving forward with a plan for bringing our hostages back home – it must not happen again. We must take advantage of the security achievements now in order to return all the hostages in one comprehensive deal – the hostages have no more time.
We have to bring them all back because it's the right thing to do, both as human beings and socially – and also because it's the right thing to do from a security and political standpoint. It won't be without a price, but we will know how to deal with these, as a society and as a country. We can assume that when the plan for the return of the hostages is implemented, Hamas will try to arm itself – and we will find a way to fight again. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not living in the Middle East. Anyone who thinks that we will allow the threat of Hamas or Hezbollah to return to our border has learned nothing from October 7th."