Defense Minister and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz spoke on Tuesday night at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan following the publication of exit polls which predicted that Blue and White would not only pass the electoral threshold but could win as many as seven seats.
“I love Israel. I have always enlisted and will always enlist to serve it. I will always put Israel first. I served in the IDF for almost 40 years and for the past two years I have been serving the country with you in the political field,” declared Gantz.
“When you love a country you fight for it, and you do not listen to the background noises, you do not smell the filth and you are not really engaged with the unimportant things. There were those who eulogized us. I chose, we chose to fight. I was a warrior, I am a warrior, I will remain a warrior."
Gantz stressed, “I am here to serve Israel and be part of its leadership. At this time the results are still not clear enough and I suggest everyone be patient until the real results come out, but one thing I can assure you. Together with my friends, we will continue to fight for our values and the unity of Israeli society. We will continue to do everything to protect democracy, maintain security, contribute to the rehabilitation of the health and education and the economy and lead to inner peace within us so that we may be strong against our enemy.”
“Friends, two years have passed in politics. We have learned a thing or two, so we will wait for the real results. And I tell you that I intend to do everything I can to unite this bloc of change and lead to a different government and we will reach out, just as we promised, to the members of the bloc of change. To anyone who can offer a replacement for Netanyahu. And if, God forbid, the indecision we saw on the screen will bring us to a fifth election, my friends and I, together with you, will stand in such a way that preserves Israeli democracy as we have done to this day, as we always have."