Benny Gantz
Benny GantzEsty Dazyubov, TPS

Blue and White Chairman MK Benny Gantz on Wednesday toured the Ramat Negev Regional Council together with local leaders, speaking to them about the political deadlock.

"I hope we will not end up with a third round of elections, despite all the proclamations," he said. "We want unity, and I've been speaking about unity from my first day in politics."

Regarding his Tuesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Gantz said, "I'm sorry that I sat in the room and had a conversation and before I reached my car there was a notice to the media that said the exact opposite. In the room, Netanyahu did not offer anything new. He remained steadfast in his position. That's not how you hold negotiations."

"Netanyahu does not need to search for guilty parties. In Blue and White, there are organized processes of discussion and the responsibility rests on me and the decisions are my responsibility, while I ask advice from my friends. He needs to look me and the citizens of Israel in the eye and say what he thinks and what he wants, instead of deflecting responsibility away from himself. No prime minister has ever presented himself like this to the State of Israel."

Though Gantz has claimed to be working towards a unity government, he has also resisted offers which would allow him to serve as premier for the lion's share of the Knesset's four-year term.

While his own offer would allow him to serve as premier for two years before passing the scepter to Netanyahu, Netanyahu has offered to serve just 3-4 months in the role before allowing Gantz to take over for the remaining 3+ years of the term.

Gantz, however, has rejected these offers, insisting that there "will be no unity government" unless he himself is allowed to take the first turn.