ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
When arrangements were initially made with Defense Minister Benny Gantz to address the Foreign Press Association, he had no idea of the political developments that would dominate media headlines on the date that he was due to speak to the FPA.

He had planned to focus on the recent war with Gaza, but realized even before mounting the podium at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel on Monday that he would also have to talk or at least answer questions about Israel’s political battlefield.

To his credit, he made no effort to be evasive.

When asked how he could work in harmony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent war with Gaza, Gantz replied that “security aspects are above politics. It’s not a matter of Left or Right.”

Responding to a question as to why the next government should last any longer than the previous government, Gantz said that the ability of the future government is totally connected to the ability of its players. Politically speaking, he commented, the mutual interests of the different players may give the government a chance.

Gantz conceded that ways must be found to handle sensitive issues on which the parties don’t agree.

“But it’s time for a change,” he insisted. He was confident that the new government would be able to cooperate with everyone in the Knesset with the exception of extremists on both sides. “Our tragedy in Israel is that we are being pulled to the side instead of being pulled to the center,” he said. “It’s true of Jews and it’s also true of Arabs. We have to heal these rifts.”

On the issue of the Palestinians, Gantz said: “We are not going anywhere and the Palestinians are not going anywhere. I would rather deal with the Palestinian Authority than with Hamas, but [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas must understand that even people like me who want to strengthen the PA against Hamas cannot compromise on Israel’s security.”

Gantz who is at odds with Prime Minister designate Naftali Bennett with regard to the future of the Palestinians, said “if we have good relations, increase their governance and economy, we can strengthen them against Hamas. We should be willing to see some kind of Palestinian statehood and increase Palestinian governance in the West Bank.”

When asked whether he thinks that Bennett is suitable to be prime minister, Gantz said that even though Bennett comes from the Right side of the political map, he enabled the change which qualifies him to be prime minister. Even though they don’t see eye to eye on the Palestinians, Gantz acknowledged, “I will do my best to help him.”

Gantz was indirectly taken to task by AP Bureau chief Joe Federman who was still angry about a false statement made on Channel 12 by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi in which he said that in the Jalaa Tower that was bombed by Israel, Gaza-based AP journalists drank their morning coffee in the cafeteria with Hamas operatives.

Federman, who had been in that building many times, said that there was no cafeteria there and therefore what Kochavi had said was untrue and irresponsible. Worse than that, it was dangerous, because people were making false assumptions about AP. Gantz said that Kochavi was not talking about an actual occurrence, but about the atmosphere in the building where Hamas and AP both had officers.

He said that he was in favor of giving humanitarian aid to Gaza and helping to reconstruct buildings that had been damaged by Israel, but on condition that Hamas returns the remains of the two Israeli soldiers missing in action, and the two Israeli civilians who are in captivity. He characterized the return as also being in the nature of humanitarian aid.

Gantz, who is scheduled to visit the United States in the coming days, when asked about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) vis-a-vis Iran, said that a good deal is better than a war, but pointed to many flaws in the JCPOA and warned that Iran is not only a regional threat and threat to Israel, but a threat to the whole world.

The current JCPOA will allow Iran to reach nuclear capacity within five years, Gantz asserted.

Gantz, who spent much of his military career in Lebanon, when asked if a future war with Lebanon will be harder than that of 2006, replied that it will be much harder, because Hezbollah now has 100,000 rockets, some of which are very accurate with unlimited range.

But Israel has good defense capabilities, he assured his listeners. “We will be much more effective in the future. We were very effective in 2006.”