(March 19, 2020)
The latest reports are that Gantz has agreed to a unity government, with Netanyahu still temporarily in command. This would be a shameful surrender on Gantz’s part. The illusion of democracy would remain. In reality, Blue and White would be ratifying Netanyahu’s moves in the midst of the pandemic panic.
The announcement’s significance lies in the fact that some public opinion polls have favored Gantz’s number two, fellow former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, over the current party leader.
The announcement came as most polls have shown National Unity shrinking to below 10 seats, after reaching over 30 in polls conducted in the weeks and months following the October 7 Hamas massacre.
(June 3, 2025)
Amid talks about a possible early election triggered by the controversy over the exemption law from military service, interest is growing among Arab parties inside and outside the Knesset. In recent weeks, quiet negotiations have been underway to unite all the Arab parties: Ra’am, Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. The goal is to replicate the dramatic success of the Joint List in the March 2020 Knesset elections, when it won 15 seats.
Yet Israel’s political chaos between 2019 and 2022, marked by five consecutive elections and an electorate divided almost evenly between pro- and anti-Netanyahu camps, gave the Joint List an unexpected second life. Reconstituted ahead of the September 2019 vote, it immediately regained its 13 seats. Then, in March 2020, it achieved a historic milestone, becoming Israel’s third-largest party with 15 seats — the highest ever for Palestinian representation. Turnout rebounded, while support for Zionist parties among Palestinian voters collapsed from 28 percent to just 12 percent.
(October 2, 2024)
Einhorn’s career took a decisive turn when he transitioned into the political realm as Netanyahu’s strategic advisor and chief creative director. From 2019 to 2022, he advised on five of Netanyahu’s election campaigns, where his creative strategies were instrumental in securing victory. This shift into politics established Einhorn as one of Israel’s top political consultants, leading him to advise leaders across continents in recent years’ most high-stakes geopolitical and election campaigns.
In addition to his political work, Einhorn has contributed to supporting Israel’s security efforts.
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz said during a press conference in Sderot on Wednesday that Hamas was militarily defeated following the IDF‘s operation in Gaza.
„From a military point of view – Hamas is defeated. Its fighters are eliminated or in hiding. Its abilities are cut off, and we will continue to strike what remains.
However, “from a military point of view – Hamas is defeated. Its fighters are eliminated or in hiding” and its capabilities “crippled,” he continues, stating that “victory will come step by step” and that Israel “will not stop. We will enter Rafah. We will return to Khan Younis. And we will operate in Gaza. Wherever there are terrorist targets – the IDF will be there.”
(28.01.2024)
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz tells residents of the evacuated southern communities that the war against Hamas could last “a year, a decade, or even an entire generation,” and acknowledges the urgent need to ensure the release of the hostages still held in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.
Israel’s war on Hamas could last an “10 years, or even entire generation,” war cabinet minister Benny Gantz reportedly told residents of evacuated communities in southern Israel.
“Complete removal of the threat will take time,” Israel’s Channel 12 reported Mr Gantz, who previously served as deputy prime minister and defence minister, as saying on Sunday.
“This terror attack is further proof of our obligation to continue to fight with strength and determination against murderous terrorism, which threatens our citizens. In Jerusalem, Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, and everywhere,” Gantz writes on X, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
(05.03.2023)
The trial and the coup are now simultaneously underway, but while the first is lumbering along, the second is galloping forward. The hearings in the Jerusalem District Court will resume only after Passover. Until the judges return from their hiatus, the wings of the High Court of Justice might be clipped, the Judicial Appointments Committee might be under full control of the politicians, or Israel might be in the throes of a historic constitutional crisis.
(14.02.2018)
The police announcement Tuesday – that the investigations into two cases involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been completed – came 13 months after Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit decided that a “preliminary examination” of the allegations, which itself took six months, should become full-fledged criminal investigations.
(11.10.2023)
(today)
This has brought them deserved admiration in the small bubble of the Western human-rights industry and helped with much-needed funding, and has done absolutely nothing to change the dismal situation on the ground, which has steadily gotten worse.
The plaudits and platforms abroad have not resulted in any pressure on successive Israeli governments to change their policies. Not one foreign government or major financial body has changed its policies towards Israel as a result.
Negotiating teams will meet next week at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem to begin dialogue over the laws of the proposed judicial overhaul. This will be the first time the sides will discuss the details of the laws submitted to the Knesset, with previous meetings having focused on technical issues.
Several speakers at the protests called on opposition leaders to halt the negotiations, among them former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who addressed the central demonstration in Tel Aviv.
The day after the Channel 13 poll appeared, Netanyahu formally revoked his catastrophic dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A mere 25 percent of those polled said they wanted the current government to continue leading the country. Thirty-three percent said they support a unity government instead, and another 33 percent prefer another round of elections. Among Likud voters, just 43 percent want the government‘s term to continue, 35 percent prefer a unity government and 10 percent want a return to the polls.
(Oct 13, 2021)
Days after being ousted as prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu passed a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin promising a quick comeback, a source close to Netanyahu and a European diplomat told me.
Why it matters: Netanyahu and Putin had a close relationship that grew even closer after Russia began its military involvement in Syria in 2015.
A few days removed from the hysteria of an impending nuclear deal with Iran, the political-media ecosystem is now obsessing about splits and mergers. On the right, there was a split in the minuscule, spare-parts junkyard party Zionist Spirit (formerly Naftali Bennett’s political home when it was named Yamina).
If you read the verbose stories with their endless gossipy details about who exactly instigated the dissolution, you’d think this was on the scale of the Southern secession in 1861 or the divisions of Germany and Korea in 1945. Of the 9.5 million Israelis, it is hard to imagine anyone – other than the immediate families of those involved, plus maybe another 500 politicians and journalists – caring about this split.
Benny Gantz, a retired Israeli army general and the country‘s minister of defense, told a local media outlet yesterday that a New Yorker report which said Netanyahu encouraged U.S. action against Iran was likely „not what happened.“
„I don‘t know of this story and I assume this is not what happened,“ Gantz said in an interview, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Gantz is expecting Lapid to be the silver platter on which his government will rest. He’s expecting Lapid to bow out gracefully a fourth time.
First, Lapid gave up on leading Kahol Lavan (back when it was a joint ticket). Then he gave up on a rotation as prime minister should it win. Then he let Naftali Bennett be the first prime minister in the outgoing rotation government. As far as Gantz and his supporters are concerned, that’s Lapid’s purpose – to be an indefatigable capitulator, the person who provides springboards and makes governments for others.
Israeli military sources say …
(Jul 1, 2022)
The second consensus – which is both more important and more interesting – is that absolutely no one in Likud, from the most junior member to the most senior, failed to cite Kahol Lavan Chairman Benny Gantz, the current defense minister, as the person they are counting on to complete the tally of 61 Knesset seats that Netanyahu needs to form a government.
It capped a week that symbolized everything that was bad about it during the little over a year it was in power: a fractured coalition, too many of whose heads were convinced they were destined to be prime minister and waged an endless campaign, mainly against one another; a coalition with too few responsible adults and too many opportunists. Above all, however, it was a coalition faced with an opposition the likes of which we have never seen: violent, vulgar, brutal, cynical, without a drop of empathy for human suffering, no matter where; that spits on the general public, including its own voters. An opposition without any red lines but with a personality cult; that is captive to a single person who seeks to escape his trial and who along the way turns every stone and scorches every bit of earth in order to completely destroy the young experiment known as Israeli democracy.
Asked about the immediate aftermath of Silman‘s resignation, he said that „the first order of business was to stabilize the faction. I‘ve spoken with the party heads and this government is moving forward. The alternative is to return to the dark days of more election campaigns. Instead of fighting terrorism, fighting each other.“
Bennett further rejected the assertion that the current 60-60 situation in the Knesset has left his government paralyzed, saying that political paralysis „is measured in actions. Controversial laws are hard to pass, but we have no issue with regular legislation.“
Ministers paid tribute to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Sunday, who is set to leave the job this week after six years.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Mandelblit has filled a “great and significant” role. “We all owe you a debt of gratitude. On behalf of the government of Israel, I would like to thank you, Avichai, for many dedicated years of service to the State of Israel.”
Reports say Mr Netanyahu is, however, objecting to accepting a charge which would require him to leave politics.
Israel‘s longest serving leader was unseated after elections last year.
(December 2, 2019)
By submitting his letter to parliament’s speaker, Mandelblit began an official 30-day window for Netanyahu to ask parliament for immunity. With only a minority in favor, Netanyahu’s odds of success appear slim.
But late Monday, the parliament’s legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, said that any request for immunity would have to be considered by the legislature’s “House Committee.”
The current caretaker government does not have such a committee, and it appears unlikely that it will appoint one before the Dec. 11 deadline.
That means that if Netanyahu submits an immunity request, it will likely be ruled upon only after new elections and formation of a new government that appoints a committee.