JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s war cabinet minister Benny Gantz announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from the emergency coalition government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
His departure still leaves Netanyahu’s nationalist religious coalition in control of parliament with a 64-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament.
Gantz, a former armed forces chief of staff and defense minister, leads the centrist National Unity party, which holds eight seats.
The conservative Likud party led by Netanyahu is the largest faction, with 32 congressional seats. Defense Minister Yov Gallant, a member of the party, has clashed with Netanyahu and some nationalists in the government over the Gaza strategy.
The settler party Religious Zionism, led by Finance Minister Bezaleh Smotrich, has seven seats.
Ultra-nationalist Jewish forces led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gevir and Noem hold six seats and one seat respectively.
The ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties Shas and United Torah Judaism have 11 and 7 seats respectively.
