Netanyahu’s top rival left Israel’s war Cabinet. How does that affect the prime minister and Gaza?

By JULIA FRANKEL and JACK JEFFERY
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The resignation of a senior member of Israel’s war Cabinet was a dramatic show of distrust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategy for the eight-month-old war with Hamas. But the Sunday departure of the centrist Benny Gantz does not immediately appear to threaten Netanyahu, who still controls a majority coalition in parliament. For now, the Israeli leader becomes more heavily reliant on far-right allies who oppose the latest U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal and want to press ahead with the war. Gantz’s departure from the war Cabinet returns him to his pre-war role of opposition leader in Israel’s parliament.