Gantz: Israeli Generals Seek Peace the Most

Benny Gantz | Photo: EPA
Benny Gantz | Photo: EPA
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Gantz: Israeli Generals Seek Peace the Most

Benny Gantz | Photo: EPA
Benny Gantz | Photo: EPA

“I spent about 38 years fighting in the Israeli army. And believe me, the generals in the army, who have seen and experienced the horrors of war, are the ones who want peace the most,” said Israel's Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Gantz tackled a multitude of questions about peace in the Middle East and revealed that he had already been to a majority of Arab states with clandestine visits as part of his military service and said he would love to go on an official tour.

On the issue of Jerusalem, Gantz stressed that he "believes in the full equality for Arab citizens and their participation in government," and that the city must remain undivided.

He, however, noted that there will be room for a Palestinian capital.

“Jerusalem must stay united, but it will have place for a Palestinian capital,” he said. “It's a vast city, filled with sites that are holy to all of us.”

“We want the Palestinians to have a suitable geographical extension that enables them to lead a comfortable life without obstacles,” he explained.

Gantz also said that he does not see peace in the Middle East without settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict first. The centrist leader added that Israel will not withdraw to pre-1967 borders but the sides can reach a compromise.

Speaking on the subject of peacemaking and normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, Gantz said that the Palestinians must remain actively involved.

"I want Palestinians to be part of the peace process. The push for normalization within the Arab world is a great and real opportunity," he said.

He warned against what he called the "Iranian axis" in the region, saying it posed a threat for both Israel and Arab states and pointing at countries like Syria and Lebanon as examples of its corruptive influence.

These days, Gantz is fighting a bitter battle with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that could topple the government and lead to early elections.

Early elections can prove detrimental for the Blue and White centrist party which is led by Gantz.

Despite the ruinous prospects for the party, Gantz is being pressured into rejecting Netanyahu’s conditions and exiting the government.

It is worth noting that the interview with Gantz took place in his office at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv and at the height of the tug-of-war going on between him and Netanyahu.

Both, Netanyahu and Gantz were hoping for the other to make concessions before time ran out and they were faced with unwanted early elections.

Gantz, for his part, predicted that the status quo will remain the same given that Netanyahu is showing no willingness whatsoever to settle disputes.

He considered running in the elections a “matter of national responsibility.”

Even though prospects are dim for the Blue and White party, Gantz sounded optimistic about the tables turning.

“Twenty percent of the electorate has not decided how to vote. I believe that we will get a third of them, and that we will take back a portion of the voters who left us,” he noted.

When asked about Israel’s economic and political stability, Gantz said he doesn’t believe that it was in danger.



Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.