Gantz confirms Blue and White will run in September in same format

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz says his party will go to the September 17 elections in the same constellation of parties that ran together last April.

Blue and White is an alliance of Gantz’s newly-founded Israel Resilience Party, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, and Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem party — and Gantz and Lapid agreed to take turns as prime minister if the party wins the election, with Gantz taking the first two years and Lapid the next two.

After a recording is leaked today in which Ya’alon complains that Lapid is the only member of the party’s top leadership who insists on keeping the rotation ahead of the next election, Gantz defends Lapid and the agreement.

“Blue and White is a big place, there are discussions, and that’s okay,” he tells Channel 12 in an interview.

Ya’alon’s opposition to the rotation with Lapid is known within the party, he adds, but says there will not be any changes ahead of September, running with “the same structure and path that brought us to 35 seats.”

He adds: “Yair [Lapid] is serious, experienced, understands politics. We’re continuing with the [rotation] agreement.”