Netanyahu's Main Electoral Rival Calls for Abandoning Control Over Palestinians

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israel should seek a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which it will not have to keep the Palestinian people under control, Benny Gantz, the main rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming general election, said on Wednesday to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

"We need to find a way in which we're not controlling other people", the former chief of general staff of the Israel Defense Forces said in an interview with the newspaper.

Gantz also expressed a belief that he had all the chances to win the April 9 election. He, however, did not rule out that he could join Netanyahu’s new government unless the prime minister was indicted on corruption charges, which the police were seeking to press against him.

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The majority of polls predict a victory of the ruling Likud party with a lead of several seats over Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party.

Likud pledges to maintain the country’s military presence and expand the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The right-wing party also accuses Gantz of attempting to create a left government with the participation of Israeli Arabs.