Gantz adviser: Campaign leaks caused us at least 2 or 3 seats

A strategic adviser for Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz tells Channel 13 that the long series of leaked recordings published by the network cost the centrist party at least two or three seats, preventing the party from staying on message and possibly defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in last week’s election.

Yisrael Bachar says he believed that Gantz had about a 30 percent chance of winning and recognized the difficulty of defeating a right-wing bloc that is much larger in Israel.

In the weeks and months leading up to the campaign, Channel 13 as well as other networks published leaked recordings of Gantz speaking frankly behind closed doors about his willingness to sit with Netanyahu in a coalition despite rejecting the possibility in public, and even hypothesizing the premier’s desire to harm him in order to prevent the former IDF chief of staff from replacing him.