Israel’s Gantz backs Knesset vote on Trump ‘peace plan’ next week

The head of Israel’s largest opposition party declared yesterday that he intends to bring the Trump administration’s “peace plan” before the Knesset plenum for a vote next week.

“This is a historic opportunity to draw Israel’s future borders,” Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) chair Benny Gantz said in a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies, as reported by the Times of Israel. 

“The peace plan is consistent with the fundamental principles outlined in the Blue and White’s platform,” the former general declared.

“Next week, I will bring the entirety of President Trump’s peace plan, as unveiled yesterday, to the Knesset for approval,” Gantz added.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 13 reported yesterday that the Trump plan has in fact exposed a “rift” within Blue and White, which is an alliance of different factions and parties.

READ: Right-wing Israeli lawmakers attempt to remove Palestinians from Knesset 

According to reports, Telem, headed by former defence minister Moshe Ya’alon, is reportedly “unhappy with its [the plan’s] inclusion of a state for Palestinians”.

During a faction meeting Tuesday, Ya’alon berated colleagues from the Yesh Atid party within the alliance: “Stop saying that it is possible to reach a peace agreement. It’s a dream. It’s a hallucination. The Palestinians have been peace rejecters for almost 100 years.”

“The Trump plan is the closest thing to the platform of Blue and White. We cannot and must not speak about a state [for the Palestinians], but rather autonomy only,” Ya’alon added.

Likud slammed Gantz’s declared Knesset effort: “The hitchhiker Gantz is trying to catch a lift on the tremendous accomplishments brought by the prime minister after three years of intensive work with the Trump administration. A joke,” a party spokesperson stated.