IDF Major-General Yoav Galant recently lost a chance to become the Chief of Staff over accusations that he illegally expropriated land and lied about it. Now the Committee for the Land of Israel is calling for Major-General Benny Gantz to face punishment for a similar crime.
The committee has called for the sealing off or demolition of rooms that Gantz allegedly built without a permit.
Gantz should pay the same price as Jews in Judea and Samaria do for similar violations, the committee explained, in accordance with the principle of equality before the law.
In a letter to the State Prosecutor, the group said, “We request that you order the city of Rosh HaAyin to clear out the illegal building addition [to Gantz's home] and seal it off or destroy it completely, just as the State Prosecutor's office requested be done regarding 'Beit Yehonatan' and the 'El Matan' synagogue.”
Beit Yehonatan is a six-story building in the historically Jewish Shiloach (Silwan) neighborhood of Jerusalem, the top for floors of which were ordered sealed off due to a building infraction. The synagogue in El Matan was ordered sealed off over claims that it infringed on Palestinian Authority Arabs' rights.
The government has also announced plans to demolish even the homes of fallen war heroes in Judea and Samaria.
The Committee also called to look into the possibility that Gantz, like Galant, had not been honest about his problematic land dealings. Information revealed by the Turkel committee, which investigated each candidate for Chief of Staff, “was significantly different from the information that General Gantz gave when he filled out the 'Candidacy for a Public Position' form for the role of Chief of Staff,” the group alleged.