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Last month, Gantz presented the conservative prime minister with
a June 8 deadline to come up with a clear day-after strategy for
Gaza, where Israel has been pressing a devastating military
offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The minister's spokespeople have not provided details of his
scheduled speech, but political commentators in Israel's leading
newspapers said he was expected to announce his resignation.
The departure of Gantz's centrist party would not pose an
immediate threat to Netanyahu's governing coalition, which
controls 64 of parliament's 120 seats, but it could have a
serious impact nonetheless.
With Gantz gone, Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist
bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in
Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and
domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war.
Netanyahu would have to rely more heavily on the political
backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered
Washington even before the war and who have since called for a
return to a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.
This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations
with the United States and intensify public pressure at home,
with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its
stated goals - the destruction of Hamas and the return of 120
remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Gantz's exit might also indicate limited prospects of success in
the latest ceasefire efforts, according to political analysts,
who say he would have been more likely to stay on if a deal
appeared more probable.
Polls have shown Gantz, a former army commander and defence
minister, to be the most formidable political rival to
Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the
Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
He joined a unity government soon after Oct. 7, saying he was
putting aside political considerations in the national interest.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by
Helen Popper)
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