Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies have lashed out at senior minister Benny Gantz for his visit to the White House, in a sign of growing strains within Israel’s war cabinet and its relations with Washington.
Gantz, a former defence minister who joined Netanyahu’s coalition after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, said he told the prime minister on Friday of his plans to see senior US officials so that the two could “co-ordinate messaging”.
But in an indication of Netanyahu’s displeasure, the Israeli embassy in Washington was ordered to boycott Gantz’s meetings, according to one person familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s allies accused Gantz of acting like a “Trojan horse” against Israeli interests.