Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz sharply criticized his opposition colleagues, calling on them not to disqualify Netanyahu and accusing them of failing to do everything possible to advance the return of hostages.
Speaking Thursday evening at the party’s general assembly, Gantz said: “My proposal for a government focused on hostage return and universal enlistment ran into a blockade by the factions because it seems opposition leaders have forgotten that people voted for them not just to appear in studios and then go drink espresso—but to influence reality and represent the public. Those who opposed it are afraid of ‘what will people say’ and how many seats they might lose in some poll. We are not afraid.”
Gantz emphasized that disqualifying Netanyahu is not the right approach, and that disqualification should apply only to “extremist” elements, as he defined them.
He added that, in his view, the public divide in Israel has returned to where it was before the war. “We returned to October 6 on steroids. The State of Israel is on the brink of civil war. The extremists have moved from the margins into the management of the country, and Begin’s Likud has become the Ben-Gvir Likud.”
Gantz concluded by stating that his party has no intention of withdrawing from the race for the next Knesset. “We are here for the long term. We do not zigzag according to polls—we are moving straight ahead.”