Benny Gantz: Elections are wrong for Israel but better than paralysis

"I will meet with the Finance Minister on Sunday and I say this clearly and now: The options are a budget now or elections."

DECEMBER 4, 2020 14:56

Benny Gantz (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST) — Benny Gantz

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that "elections are not the right thing for the country, but they are much better than a paralyzed governmet."

Addressing the country via Facebook on Friday, he said that, "when Netanyahu decided not to pass the budget, I decided to dissolve the Knesset." He explained that he thinks elections are preferable to a government that is unable to pass a budget.

"I’ll be meeting with the finance minister on Sunday. It’s either an immediate budget or elections," said Gantz.

Finance Minister Israel Katz said that he intends to present Gantz with the content of the budget and laws and reforms attached to the budget on Sunday, in a post to his Facebook Friday afternoon. " I do not intend to turn this into an event of political fighting, but a professional discussion," said Katz.

"I hope that wisdom and national responsibility will triumph and allow us to quickly pass the budget," Katz went on to say.

Gantz also touched on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent actions saying that "even though I knew who my coalition partner was going in, I thought there were some boundaries that even he wouldn’t cross."

Gantz went on to say that "Netanyahu is more concerned with his trial than he is with his country."

The defense minister added that his party will advance bills next week that riled up coalition partner Likud this week. The bills include a change in surrogacy arrangements for gay men and amendments to basic laws to strengthen equal rights and the authority of the proclamation of Israel’s independence.

Gantz touched on operation "Rock of Israel," expressing his support for Israel's work to bring members of the Ethiopian Falash Mura community to Israel. He also mentioned a new project to test for coronavirus in towns in the Galilee that began this week and said that testing in Judea and Samaria will begin next week.

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Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.