Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly sent a message to his political allies in the past 24 hours: “The prime minister will not dismantle the bloc for Gantz,” according to a report by Kan News.
The statement comes amid growing concern within the coalition that Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz may be invited to join the government — potentially at the expense of current bloc parties — as part of a broader political move to secure a hostage deal and bring an end to fighting in Gaza.
Despite Gantz's public initiative to form a broad-based unity government with the stated goal of “redeeming captives and mobilizing everyone,” neither Netanyahu nor opposition leader Yair Lapid has issued a formal response.
In an effort to advance his proposal, Gantz reached out to three senior political figures: Prime Minister Netanyahu, opposition leader Lapid, and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman. However, no direct conversation took place with Netanyahu, Lieberman reportedly did not respond to Gantz's call, and Lapid rejected the offer outright.
Sources within Blue and White claim that figures inside the Likud party have expressed willingness to explore the idea, though no official steps have been taken.
This morning, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged coalition leaders to take a firm stance against any possible inclusion of Gantz in the government.
“We’ve made gains without Gantz in Iran, we’ve made gains without Gantz against Hezbollah, and we’re making gains elsewhere,” Ben-Gvir stated. “If we want to succeed in Gaza — Benny Gantz must not join the government.”