Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz revealed for the first time that his wife, Revital, has been coping in recent years with Alzheimer’s disease, with which she was diagnosed at a relatively young age.
In an interview on the "Uvda" program, Gantz spoke about his family’s struggle with the illness and the decision to keep the matter out of the public discourse for years. According to him, the family chose not to reveal the situation in order to protect the family members and their privacy.
According to Gantz, the first signs appeared when his wife began doctoral studies. Later, there were incidents that raised his concern, after which she underwent a series of neurological tests that ended with the diagnosis.
The doctors informed him that it was Alzheimer’s at a relatively advanced stage, he said. "It was the end of Revital’s world and mine as we had known it," he said, describing the moment he received the news.
Gantz said that despite the personal struggle, he continued in his public and political roles. According to him, for years he has been managing “two parallel worlds" - public life on the one hand and the family's challenges on the other.
He also said that after a period of treatment at home, the decision was made to move his wife to an appropriate care facility. He described the decision as one of the hardest of his life, but stressed that his wife continues to be present in the family’s life.
"The night before was terrible. Imagine taking your wife, your beloved, and knowing that this is the last night you will sleep together," he described. "She is present and absent in our lives all the time. A wonderful woman imprisoned inside a body. There is no separation, it is not separation. It is a change of form."
At the same time, he noted that he is currently working on a book in which he will address, among other things, the journey he and his wife have gone through together in coping with the disease.