Benny Gantz
Benny GantzPhoto: Ariel Hermoni/IMoD

National Unity party chairman Defense Minister Benny Gantz pledged: Defense Minister Benny Gantz pledged to not allow the return of Jews to the communities in Gaza and northern Samaria which were destroyed in the 2005 Disengagement despite the participation of right-wing members such as Gideon Sa'ar and Ze'ev Elkin in his party.

"We will not cancel the Disengagement Law, we will not return to northern Samaria and we will not return to Gaza," Gantz said in an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper.

In the interview, Gantz claimed that Gideon Sa'ar and Ze'ev Elkin, who previously supported the renewal of Jewish settlement in northern Samaria, "moved to the center. This is what we agreed on - that there would not be a bi-national state, that we preserve security, that we preserve settlement, that we open the economy, that conflict be reduced."

Regarding the issue of public transportation on Shabbat, Minister Gantz claimed that "the local authorities should be given the power to manage it themselves." To the question of whether the haredi parties would join the government that will allow transportation on Shabbat, Gantz replied that "everyone will have to get in line."

In the interview, Gantz was asked whether Benjamin Netanyahu should apologize to him, and he replied: "He should have asked the State of Israel for forgiveness. He should have prevented the elections, preserved the unity government, taken care of the budget, taken care of stability - he didn't do it."