Gantz calls on Lapid to put Israel first, form centrist alliance in election

At party event, Israel Resilience leader makes public appeal for Yesh Atid chief to put aside other considerations and not ‘weaken the opportunity for a historic change’

Israel Resilience party chief Benny Gantz, formally presenting his party’s slate for the coming elections, announced on Tuesday night that he was about to call fellow centrist leader Yair Lapid and propose an immediate meeting in order to join forces with the Yesh Atid party.

“As soon as the conference is over, I will call my friend Lapid, and I will propose to meet with him this evening,” Gantz said. “I will again propose to him to leave all other considerations aside, and together we will put Israel before everything else.”

Polls have shown that a merger of both parties would become the biggest Knesset faction and have a better chance to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, but negotiations between them have stalled over disagreements regarding the party leadership and the makeup of the unified election slate.

“You can’t weaken the opportunity for a historic change due to a debate over job opportunities,” Gantz urged. “Let’s rise above [the differences], unite and win.”

Israel Resilience party chief Benny Gantz speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on February 19, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Lapid responded by saying in a statement that “As I said yesterday on stage [when presenting his own party’s Knesset candidates], we will leave no stone unturned, we will do everything to ensure we don’t miss an historic opportunity to replace the government.”

Parties have until a Thursday deadline to finalize their candidate list for the April 9 Knesset elections.

Referring to the possibility of a merger deal with Israel Resilience, the only possible move that polls suggest could make Yesh Atid into a real contender, Lapid said Monday that a deal is still possible, but looks unlikely.

“The option is on the table. I won’t take it off the table until the last moment. We will leave no stone unturned,” he said.

But Lapid said the two parties had not yet come to an agreement on key policy issues.

Lapid is said to have offered Gantz a political merger that would see the two leaders alternating as chair of their alliance, Channel 12 reported on Saturday.

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid speaks during an event hosted by the Movement for the Quality of Government, in Modi’in, on February 4, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Earlier Tuesday, Israel Resilience released its official slate for the Knesset, revealing the names of the top 30 candidates it hopes will lead the party to victory in April.

Revealing the list before the formal evening presentation suggested that negotiations over a merger with Orly Levy-Abekasis’s Gesher party may not be completed before Thursday’s deadline.

Six of the first 23 candidates on the Israel Resilience list are from Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem party, which agreed on a joint Knesset run with Israel Resilience last month. Only five of the top 20 are women.

Adina Bar-Shalom attends a Shas faction meeting at the Knesset on July 6, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90/File)

As parties make their final maneuvers before closing their slates, the Ahi Yisraeli party, led by ultra-Orthodox Adina Bar-Shalom, is reportedly putting out feelers to unite with the Israel Resilience party or other parties, the Walla website reported Tuesday.

The party said in a statement it was preparing a slate and would run in the elections alone or after having united with another party.

Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.