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Israel Forms National Unity Government To Wage War On Hamas

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Photo by Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Ilan Hulkower Contributor
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The Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement Wednesday with erstwhile opposition party leader Benny Gantz to form a national unity government to deal with Hamas, Times of Israel reported.

Gantz, a former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, will be included in the small cabinet that will direct the war, the local outlet reported. This exclusive cabinet will primarily consist of Netanyahu, Gantz, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Times of Israel noted. (RELATED: ‘Significant Military Activities’ Authorized After Israeli Security Cabinet Confirms War Status)

Five members of Gantz’s party will also be added to a broader security cabinet, the Israeli outlet reported.

Justice minister Yariv Levin welcomed this development and said that this deal “is the right and necessary thing to do — from here, we work together,” Times of Israel reported.

Current members of the opposition like Member of Knesset (MK) Avigdor Liberman expressed support for the war and a desire to destroy Hamas, the terror group that invaded Israel Saturday and massacred civilians. “Anything less than the complete elimination of Hamas – and Hamas cannot be eliminated without land entry into Gaza City and especially the destruction of lower Gaza, will not bring the desired result,” wrote Liberman in Hebrew on Twitter.

The Israeli government has made overtures for the current head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, to join as well but Lapid has refused to join a national unity government if certain religious nationalist parties remain in the government, the Times of Israel reported.