A meeting of popular Israeli leaders in London sends a message to Netanyahu

When Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, met with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Wednesday, he received a stark message that Israel must do more to ensure humanitarian aid flows into Gaza.

It was the kind of ministerial-level meeting that would normally attract modest attention amid the wave of high-level diplomacy that has surrounded the war between Israel and Hamas. But Mr Gantz and Mr Cameron are not merely officials.

Mr. Gantz, a former Israeli army chief of staff, is a popular political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mr. Netanyahu expressed deep dismay at what he viewed as an unsanctioned trip by a future Israeli leader.

Mr Cameron, a former prime minister, has enjoyed unusual latitude as foreign secretary, speaking out forcefully on issues such as Gaza and the war in Ukraine on international trips, where he is often treated as if he were still in his old job fed up.

The unusual format of the meeting – almost two shadow leaders – speaks to the peculiar domestic politics in each country. Israel is in the grip of a devastating war that has drawn Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gantz into a temporary alliance. Britain is in the twilight of an era of Conservative-led governments, with a prime minister, Rishi Sunak, more concerned with a general election later this year than foreign policy.

For Britain, diplomats and experts said, using Mr Cameron to deliver a tough message to Israel is valuable because it will register more than if it came from a standard minister. It also spares Mr Sunak the political risk of putting direct pressure on Mr Netanyahu and possibly being rebuffed.

“Cameron is a big beast, relatively speaking,” says Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who now heads the US/Middle East Project, an institute in London and New York. “They would want Gantz to know how desperate the humanitarian situation has become, the strain it is putting on the relationship and how difficult it will be to continue in this way.”

During the meeting, Mr Cameron said in a rackhe and Mr Gantz discussed efforts to break the fighting, and Mr Cameron urged him to increase aid. While he said Britain supports Israel’s right to self-defense, “as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a legal responsibility to ensure that assistance is available to civilians.”

“That responsibility has consequences,” Mr Cameron added, “including when we as Britain assess Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law.”

Mr Gantz also met with Britain’s national security adviser, Tim Barrow, during a session attended by Mr Sunak, according to a readout from Mr Gantz’s office.

Giving Mr. Gantz these meetings also sends a message to Mr. Netanyahu. The prime minister has frustrated officials in London and Washington with his refusal to pause the military campaign or agree terms for a hostage deal with Hamas, not to mention his rejection of a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

Tensions also exist within the War Cabinet over some of these issues. Israeli analysts say Mr. Gantz has at times aligned himself with another former top military commander, Gadi Eisenkot, against Mr. Netanyahu. That is complicated by the fact that Mr Gantz is seen as a rival to the prime minister in future elections.

“Gantz and Eisenkot openly disagree with Netanyahu on the terms of a hostage agreement with Hamas,” Mr. Levy said. “I imagine the British were gently prodding to understand what the dynamics are at home.”

For now, Mr. Gantz, 64, has higher approval ratings than Mr. Netanyahu, who was dogged by legal troubles before the war and is blamed by many Israelis for intelligence shortcomings in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. A recent poll by Channel 13, an Israeli TV channel, showed that if elections were held today, Mr Gantz’s centrist National Unity Party would win 39 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, while the right-wing Likud of the Mr Netanyahu would win only 17. seats.

Before stopping in London, Mr. Gantz visited Washington, where on Monday he met Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, but not — as some Israeli journalists speculated beforehand — President Biden .

Mr. Gantz told Mr. Netanyahu of his plans to fly to the United States to coordinate messages he would deliver during his meetings with American officials, a statement from his office said. Nevertheless, Mr. Netanyahu expressed his displeasure, and Mr. Gantz made the trip without diplomatic support.

In both Washington and London, the most pressing problem was the cessation of the flow of humanitarian aid. Ms. Harris urged a pause in the fighting in Gaza, the White House said, urging the Israeli government to do more to ensure aid reaches those in need in Gaza.

“Kamala Harris in particular is playing to progressives and Arab Americans by emphasizing her defense of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Martin S. Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. “I think he got the message, and we will see Israel do more, hopefully much more, to get the aid flow going.”

If Ms. Harris is seen as a supporter of the Palestinians within the Biden White House, Mr. Cameron is playing a similar role in the British government. Last month, during a visit to the Falkland Islands, he said Israel should focus on a ceasefire “right now” rather than a military offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that has become a haven for fleeing Palestinians.

Speaking in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Mr Cameron expressed frustration among British officials over the slow pace of aid. He warned that civilians trapped in Gaza faced the real prospect of famine and disease.

“We’ve had a whole range of things that we’ve asked of the Israelis, but I have to report that the amount of aid they got in February was about half of what they got in January,” Mr Cameron said. “So patience must run out and a whole series of warnings must be issued, starting with the meeting I have with Minister Gantz.”

Critics say Cameron’s blunt words have occasionally caused problems. Last month, for example, he said Britain could consider recognizing a Palestinian state before peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. That angered Israelis and helped precipitate a Knesset vote in which 99 members voted against any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Mr Sunak later clarified that there had been no change in UK policy of pursuing a two-state solution to the conflict. The United States also favors a Palestinian state that would result from a negotiated settlement with Israel.

Former Ambassador Indyk said the Knesset vote allowed Mr. Netanyahu to tell the Biden administration that there is “wall-to-wall opposition to a Palestinian state based on something the administration had no intention of doing.” doing. ”