Gantz: Netanyahu bypassed me, tried to stop push for Palestinian building
"If the prime minister wants to raise objections, he knows my number!"
By TOVAH LAZAROFFIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz at the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on June 28, 2020. (photo credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to prevent the IDF from advancing housing and building projects for Palestinians in the West Bank’s Area C, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Sunday.In addition, the Prime Minister’s Office spoke directly with the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria in an effort to bypass the defense minister, he said.“If the prime minister wants to raise objections, he knows my number,” said Gantz, who is also the alternative prime minister and head of the Blue and White Party.Despite his strong words, three projects for Palestinians were removed from the agenda of the Civil Administration’s Higher Planning Council, which convened on Sunday to discuss Palestinian building. When queried in the meeting about the issue, participants were told it was seemingly upon “orders from the higher echelon.”“At the start of a Civil Administration meeting this morning on approvals for Palestinian building, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office contacted the Civil Administration and asked them to stop the meeting,” the Defense Ministry said.Gantz ignored the PMO and instructed officials to continue with the meeting.He and Netanyahu have been at odds over authorization for Palestinians building in the West Bank, approvals for settler building and the placement of settler outpost legalization on the government’s agenda.In his role as defense minister, Gantz has autocratic control over Area C of the West Bank. But at the same time, he operates within the government headed by Netanyahu, even when it is a caretaker government such as this one.This includes issues of settler and Palestinian building in Area C of the West Bank, authorization for which involves decisions by the Higher Planning Council.“I will not allow the PMO to bypass my authority,” Gantz said. “The council’s activities are under the Defense Ministry’s authority. There are work procedures here.”“The decision to convene the meeting was taken last week, and there is no reason to disrupt normative working procedures,” he said.
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