Gantz: Trump plan can be implemented when we have ‘stable’ government

Gantz also called the plan a “significant historic milestone.”

By LAHAV HARKOV
US President Donald Trump welcomes Blue and White leader Benny Gantz at the White House (photo credit: ELAD MALKA)
US President Donald Trump welcomes Blue and White leader Benny Gantz at the White House
(photo credit: ELAD MALKA)
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan may only be implemented by a new government and in dialogue with Israel’s neighbors, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz said following his meeting with Trump met in the White House on Monday.
Gantz called the meeting “exceptional,” and said his plan is a “significant historic milestone,” though he would not give details.
“Immediately after the [March 2] election, I will work towards implementing it from within a stable, functioning Israeli government in tandem with other countries in our region,” he said in a statement to the press before his return flight to Israel.
Gantz and Trump met separately from Netanyahu for political reasons, so Gantz would not appear to be second to the prime minister. However, Netanyahu and Trump plan to make joint remarks on Tuesday, when the US president makes his “Deal of the Century” public.
The Blue and White leader said he and Trump “discussed the importance of dialogue with the Palestinians, neighboring countries and King of Jordan.
“I spoke with the president about the captives and missing [IDF] soldiers held by Hamas, and stressed that any arrangement must include their long-awaited return,” he added.
In addition, Gantz said that he and Trump discussed the Iranian nuclear threat, as well as threats by its proxies along Israel’s borders, including Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon.
In his remarks in Hebrew, Gantz explained that he was returning to Israel in time for the vote on the prime minister’s request for immunity from criminal prosecution, which he said was key to Israel’s democracy. He said that Netanyahu will not be able to function as prime minister in a time of sensitive security issues when he is preoccupied with his trial.
When Gantz repeated his remarks in English, his comments were identical to those in Hebrew, except that he omitted the part about Netanyahu’s immunity vote.
Before his meeting with Netanyahu in the White House, Trump said he invited Gantz to the White House so that the timing of the plan’s release wouldn’t be seen as political, in order to help Netanyahu win the upcoming election. He called Netanyahu and Gantz “two good competitors, fighting it out.”
Trump also commented on the fact that Israel is having three elections in one year, which has delayed his plan’s release: “We keep waiting and waiting and waiting, so let’s go. What kind of system is that? Very strange system.”
Earlier in the day, Gantz went jogging and was spotted by Israeli reporters en route to the White House, who asked him about the prospects for peace.
“Of course there will be peace. We’ll make sure of it,” he said without providing any details.
Gantz was joined in the meeting by Yoram Turbowitz of Blue and White’s strategic team. His adviser on the peace plan, Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel, was also part of the delegation.
Campaign adviser Ronen Tzur, who accompanied Gantz to Washington, did not go to the White House. Tzur said he was never supposed to be in the meeting.
Hours before the meeting, the Likud campaign pointed out past tweets Tzur wrote calling the US President “Donald Adolf Trump,” and saying that he will one day write a book called Mein Drumpf.
Tzur clarified that he disagreed with Trump on some subjects, but he now believes Trump is “the most courageous president of the US and the most significant for Israeli security... I salute him.”