Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Knesset members from his Blue and White party would participate in Knesset votes in protest of the coalition's failure to meet his demand pensions be raised for career soldiers.
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Following the announcement, Gantz held a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that lasted a few minutes. Close associates of Bennett said no understandings were reached in the meeting, while Gantz's close circle blamed attacks on him in media briefings.
The coalition, meanwhile, withdrew all proposed legislation out of concern it would not pass a Knesset vote.
In a statement, the Blue and White party said: "The cowardly and obscure briefings by officials representing themselves against IDF fighters and servants is the crossing of a red line. Gantz's concern for IDF fighters and servants is out of a deep concern for state security and the IDF's existence as a strong and able military. If there are individuals willing to harm IDF fighters for political and post Zionist reasons, Gantz will not allow it."
Coalition members, meanwhile, had harsh words for Gantz's conduct.
"We were very surprised by Gantz's step, and that's after all the senior coalition members backed him up. This is childish behavior by Gantz, who thinks everyone is stupid. This is not about state security but his friends' pensions," one official said.
They continued: "Gantz basically stalled the legislation that was supposed to pass today, including credits for taxpayers. Like a little boy, Gantz is once again acting sour and trying to undermine coalition stability. Maybe he's imagining a government with Bibi [Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu] again."
Close associates of Gantz, however, said: "It's inconceivable for Gantz to sit in a room with the prime minister" while coalition members issue briefings critical of him in the next room.
Israel Hayom has learned the lawmakers in question are Meretz MKs Michal Rozin and Mossi Raz and Yamina MK Abir Kara.
Likud party officials responded to the reports, saying: "The Bennet government is collapsing. This is the third week in a row that the coalition has pulled all its legislation because it is failing and losing votes. They will fall a lot quicker than they think."
Likud Chairman Yariv Lavin said: "It took Gantz time to understand that Bennett, who conned his voters, is also conning him. To think that this is how the state is being run. Childish disputes, zero management, zero leadership. Israel deserves another government."
Wrapping up a Blue and White meeting, Gantz said: I am sorry political and populist forces, some of them genuinely post Zionist, have decided to knowingly harm state security, conscripts, and career and reserve soldiers who defend the state, and who are just as important in the struggle against Iran as any airplane or sophisticated system. You can't have the fringes repeatedly pulling the center of the government. Those who do not vote in favor of government decisions put its continued existence at risk."
Gantz added that "state security, economic security, and social security for all sectors of society regardless of political affiliation is the government's right to exist. That is why Blue and White will not compromise on the laws and policies necessary to this end in the Knesset and in the government."
Earlier Monday, Gantz spoke about attempts to harm the Israel Defense Forces as well as his fellow coalition members' attempts to make it difficult for him to raise soldiers' pensions at a conference in Jerusalem. He said those responsible for damage to the IDF were part of a "leadership that treats those who want to harm and break up the IDF with understanding."
As for public trust in government institutions, Gantz asked, "Who is interested in a state in which the justice system is weak, the police lack any authority, officers begin to weigh removing their uniform when they get home? Only terrorist organizations, criminal organizations, and our enemies."
He said the IDF "is under fire" and "taking hits from public and reckless officials, some of them post Zionist who are willing to weaken us all for [social media] likes. There are attempts to thwart the new service framework, in which all sectors of Israeli society would integrate. This is a security threat. The fact that half of every recruitment class doesn't enlist is unfair and dangerous. The populist treatment of career soldiers is now so full of lies that it is comparable to a blood libel."
Transportation Minister Meirav Michaeli, meanwhile, emphasized her opposition to raising soldiers' pensions and a salary increase for IDF chiefs of staff promoted by Gantz at the conference.
"I prefer dialogue on pensions. I am committed to this government's resilience. This is a very important government for the State of Israel. It stopped a toxic and problematic government. The pensions are wrong, but we are fighting for a much more basic thing like minimum wage so that people can live with dignity," she said.
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