New report claims former IDF chief Gantz offered No. 2 spot in Zionist Union

A report on Hadashot TV news Friday night claimed Zionist Union head Avi Gabbay has offered former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz the number 2 spot on the center-left alliance’s slate in the next general election.

According to the report, Gabbay has also promised Gantz that he will be his nominee for defense minister.

Last Friday the Maariv newspaper reported that Gantz was in talks with Gabbay — who is under pressure within the party due to its poor performance in opinion polls — to be the Zionist Union’s candidate for prime minister in the next national elections.

The newspaper’s Ben Caspit said senior sources in the Zionist Union, an alliance between the Labor and Hatnuah parties, told him that under such a deal Gabbay would remain its chairman and the first on its roster.

Gabbay later denied the report, telling Kan Bet Radio “I intend to be prime minister.”

However, he said he would be happy for Gantz to join the party and bring his experience and capabilities to Israeli politics.

Gantz, 58, who served as the military’s chief of staff from February 2011 until February 2015, commanded the 2014 war in Gaza.

He and the army drew considerable criticism in a state comptroller report published in February 2017, which said it had not adequately prepared to face the threat of Hamas attack tunnels.

In January, Gantz said during a conference in Eilat that it would “take some time” before he entered politics, but indicated that he was in talks with several political parties.

Last April, together with another former army chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, and a former Yesh Atid party education minister, Rabbi Shai Piron, Gantz launched a social movement aimed at healing rifts in Israel society and encouraging dialogue between Israelis from various communities.