Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White) on Wednesday morning slammed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attacks against him.
In an interview with Kalman Liebskind and Asaf Liberman, Gantz said: "Netanyahu's attacks against me are like a slap in the face of the nation."
Regarding Netanyahu's comments that he did not update either Gantz or Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) on the Abraham Accords, Gantz said, "This is a very serious statement by the Prime Minister, who knows that I never did any political manipulation, and I never leaked anything."
"I understand concerns of secrecy, amazing things are hidden from the eye and they need to be advanced quietly, but there is importance in coming to a senior partner and updating him, and he didn't do that, and that's a shame."
According to Gantz, "We were political rivals in the elections, and we may be rivals in the next elections, but in between there are citizens during a hard period and therefore it requires another level of cooperation. I don't hide things from Netanyahu, I will work in cooperation with him and with ministers from the Likud, because I think that that's the way to do it. I expect Netanyahu to act with the same cooperation."
Regarding the US promise to the United Arab Emirates that sovereignty in Judea and Samaria was off the table, Gantz said, "When one diplomatic path is blocked, another opens. Right now sovereignty isn't on the table, as far as I understand."
About Gaza, Gantz said, "In Gaza, there are millions of people, and when they have problems, we also have problems. We are also people. There is a danger of coronavirus. We need to allow them to manage the virus. We will not cease being people in this story. We are responding with force to everything and every issue, and we will not agree to extortion, and Hamas will understand that."
"There are negotiations between Hamas and Qatar, which sort of backs the Strip. We will continue the attacks and the pressure, and we will come back to them with even more force if they being firing again."
About the rotation agreement, under which Gantz will become prime minister next year, he said, "I see a lot of tricks, it could be that Netanyahu will break apart the coalition earlier, but then the public will look him in the eye and say, 'What's this about?' The agreement that we made was correct for now, and we need to keep it, to speak with each other and to advance some sanity in Israeli society. Anyone who veers off this path and takes us to elections - the public will hold him to account."