Benny Gantz
Benny GantzMiriam Alster/Flash90

Officials in the American government contacted Minister Benny Gantz in the last few days to examine the possibility of delaying or preventing his withdrawal from the government due to the ongoing negotiations for a new hostage deal, Kan News reported.

According to the report, the Americans consider Gantz a close partner in the Israeli government and a check against the right-wing parties and expressed concern about his withdrawal from the government at this time.

Gantz's office refused to comment on the matter.

For now, Gantz stands by his intention to withdraw from the government on Saturday night, in accordance with the ultimatum he set last month. Sources close to Gant accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not even trying to prevent the National Unity party from leaving.

Over the last day, Gantz received requests from families of the hostages who asked him not to leave the government and to stay longer, at least until the deal's fate is decided. Gantz considered remaining in the government for longer during the last week but did not change his plans.

On May 18, Gantz gave Netanyahu until June 8 to formulate a strategic plan for the war: ''Bring our hostages home, topple the Hamas regime, strip the Gaza Strip, and ensure Israeli security control. Alongside maintaining Israeli security control, establish an American-European-Arab-Palestinian administration to civilly manage the Strip and lay the foundation for a future alternative to Hamas and Abbas, return the residents of the north to their homes by September 1, and rehabilitate the Western Negev, promote normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of an overall move that will create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world against Iran and adopt a service plan that will lead to all Israelis serving the state and contributing to the supreme national effort.''