“We have come a complex way so far, and we still have a complex road ahead of us,” Benny Gantz predicted when he took over as deputy prime minister, not knowing what he predicted. If the previous government had not disbanded, today (Wednesday), a year and a half after that statement, it could have been Shach Gantz’s first day as Israeli prime minister.
The chain of events prevented him from reaching the coveted position and left him a well-known defense minister: a hole in the coalition agreements between the Likud and Blue and White led to the dissolution of the Knesset and the dissolution of the government after no budget passed. And so, after much uncertainty and lengthy negotiations, the Bennett-Lapid government arose, with Gantz remaining in the Ministry of Defense but this time without a deadline for the prime minister.
Gantz may have nothing to regret. In the past year, he has managed to clear his name of the stories of the unity government with the Likud and to show clean hands alongside a strong and united list. The blame for the rotation torpedo does not rest on his shoulders, and in the last election Blue and White won eight seats contrary to all predictions. If the government had continued to exist and Gantz had received Prime Minister Netanyahu tonight, in the next election he would probably have been wiped out.
However, even with the dissolution of the government with Netanyahu, there are those who are trying to revive Gantz’s dream of becoming prime minister: the Likud and the ultra-Orthodox parties have urged him in recent months to overthrow the government and forge a new agreement with the Likud. But those who fell into Netanyahu’s nudity once learned not to submit the other cheek but to be content with what is there.
Ganz is not enthusiastic about the Bennett-Lapid government, sometimes resentful and having difficulty working with some of his partners. With Bennett he actually gets along, the real crisis will come with the approach of realizing the rotation with Lapid and becoming his prime minister. Gantz and Lapid have had bad blood since the days of Israel’s resilience and the dissolution of the partnership in blue and white. Nevertheless, Gantz’s continued tenure is guaranteed, his people by his side, support for him is expanding, and he does not intend to stop.