Coalition said mulling asking Gantz to join if far-right parties bolt over Gaza deal
Report says embattled centrist leader is in contact with PM over potential entry into government, offsetting threats by Smotrich, Ben Gvir to bring it down over potential truce
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition is considering inviting Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party to join the government if the far-right Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism parties quit in the wake of Israeli acquiescence to an accord that ends the Gaza war, according to a Wednesday report, as Israel’s political parties begin to shuffle ahead of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal.
According to Army Radio, contacts between Blue and White and the coalition are being handled by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, who also hopes that Gantz can help broker an agreement on ultra-Orthodox conscription.
However, both Deri’s office and Blue and White denied the report.
“We are not aware of such an appeal. As we have said before, we will provide a safety net for the return of the hostages and for appropriate political moves from the outside,” Blue and White told Army Radio.
Otzma Yehudit chair Itamar Ben Gvir is said to have reached out to fellow far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich, the head of Religious Zionism, to discuss working together as a united bloc to torpedo a US-backed deal to end the war and secure the release of all hostages, although Smotrich’s office denied that he agreed to meet on the matter.
In response, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and Gantz both promised that their parties will provide any support from across the aisle to ensure that the deal isn’t torpedoed.
Gantz, who once built his political career on being a viable alternative to Netanyahu, has not categorically ruled out sitting in government with the premier again if necessary, and said in a statement on Wednesday that he would give the premier a political safety net to advance an agreement if the far-right parties leave the government, an offer that Lapid has also made.
“There is no bloc in the world that will stop the return of the hostages,” Gantz stated in a video message posted to social media. “Netanyahu, petty politics will not be an obstacle to historic moves. You have a large majority to return the hostages, both among the people and in the Knesset.”
Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism have 13 votes between them, whereas Yesh Atid has 23. Gantz’s Blue and White has six.
In a statement released via Smotrich’s spokesman, the finance minister denied any such cooperation and instead accused Ben Gvir of playing “a game” via leaks to the media.
The reports of a potential entry of Gantz’s party into the government came days after the resignation of Gadi Eisenkot from the centrist National Unity faction, which was formed by the merger of several centrist parties into a single party led by Gantz. As part of the same shakeup, Eisenkot resigned from the Knesset as a whole.
Gantz had claimed that Eisenkot’s departure was due to ideological gaps between the two, which reportedly included disagreements about joining forces with Netanyahu in a coalition.
Eisenkot on Tuesday dismissed the reports of such ideological differences with Gantz, saying: “It has nothing to do with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
However, Eisenkot did clarify that he is against Netanyahu remaining in power, saying that “everyone who was in a central position [on October 7] must resign.”
Eisenkot’s resignation led to reports and speculation that he is looking to join forces with Lapid or former prime minister Naftali Bennett ahead of the next elections. The former IDF chief of staff pushed back, saying that he has not spoken about a political union with either, and “they were not connected in any way to this process.” He added that he wants “to lead a process that will bring together all the democratic Zionist parties.”
A source with knowledge of the matter told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that Eisenkot and Lapid are in contact but denied that there was any agreement between the two, dismissing a report by the Ynet news site that Lapid had offered Eisenkot the leadership of his party for the next election.
Gantz and Eisenkot’s National Unity faction joined Netanyahu’s coalition days after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in a move that strengthened the government as the country embarked on a war to destroy the Palestinian terror group that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages to Gaza.
Both Gantz and Eisenkot served in the government as ministers without portfolio, as well as members of the small war cabinet, from October 11, 2023, until June 9, 2024, when they pulled their party out of the coalition due to disagreements with Netanyahu over plans for postwar Gaza.
Since their departure, which resulted in the removal of the eight National Unity Knesset seats from Netanyahu’s coalition, the premier has been more reliant on his far-right partners, holding a fragile majority of 63 of the 120 seats in the plenum before Gideon Sa’ar split his four-member New Hope faction from National Unity and joined the government. Thirteen of the 67 current coalition seats belong to Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism together.
As Netanyahu has signaled that he is more ready to sign a ceasefire and hostage release deal to free the remaining 50 hostages held in Gaza, 49 of whom were taken captive during the October 7 attacks, Gantz and other opposition figures now look to ensure that such a deal can be agreed to despite the threats by Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
The Times of Israel Community.