Gantz Welcomes Palestinians to Peace Table 

Israel’s Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz gave his first interview to an Arab media outlet on Thursday, speaking to the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat about the latest regional normalization accords, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and inside-Israeli politics. Gantz insisted that the Palestinian people should be part of the “historical peace process” taking place in the Middle East, and said he believes they deserve a “sovereign entity” with its own capital. The former military commander in chief boasted it was his party that opposed and effectively took Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s idea of annexing 70% of the West Bank off the table, but added that Israel could not return to the pre-1967 war borders, and that Jerusalem “will have to remain undivided – though with room for a Palestinian capital within.” In recent months, Ramallah has condemned the agreements signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, calling them a “betrayal” of the Palestinian people and their fight for independence.