Blue and White party

Illustrative: Soldiers of the IDF's ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion sit in a field at the Peles Military Base, in the Northern Jordan Valley. (Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)

Group launches bid for true universal conscription – Haredim, Arabs and all

Pnima movement, which once included Gantz and Ashkenazi, releases proposal to require all Israeli citizens to perform some form of national service for a more cohesive society

July 17, 2019, 6:42 am

Group launches bid for true universal conscription – Haredim, Arabs and all

Pnima movement, which once included Gantz and Ashkenazi, releases proposal to require all Israeli citizens to perform some form of national service for a more cohesive society

By Judah Ari Gross

Former PM Ehud Barak speaks during a press conference announcing the establishment of a new political party in Tel Aviv, June 26, 2019. (Flash90)

July 15, 2019, 5:26 pm

Barak: Lapid is the reason Blue and White didn’t win April elections

Hitting back, centrist politician says votes for ex-PM’s Israel Democratic Party would just be ‘thrown in the trash’ because it won’t clear threshold to enter Knesset

By TOI staff

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz addressing party activists in Shefayim, July 14, 2019. (Jane Peimer)

July 15, 2019, 7:04 am

Gantz says ‘in talks’ with Likud reps over unity government sans Netanyahu

Blue and White chief claims dissenting members of ruling party ‘getting ready for the day after’ PM

By Raoul Wootliff

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz at the Knesset, June 3, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 11, 2019, 10:23 am

As Liberman pushes a unity government, Gantz says he won’t serve with Netanyahu

Blue and White head says he’s open to joining forces with Likud but not PM due to his legal woes; adds it’s ‘inconceivable’ that Hamas is ‘dictating agenda’ on southern border

By TOI staff

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman speaking at a parlor event in Ramat Gan, July 9, 2019. (Shachar Azran)

July 9, 2019, 4:55 pm

Liberman: Future peace deal with Palestinians must include Arab Israelis

Former defense minister calls Jewish state’s ‘conflict’ with minority more difficult to resolve than reconciliation with Palestinians, Arab world

By Avner Hofstein and Biranit Goren

US political strategist Joel Benenson in 2013. (Screenshot: YouTube)

July 9, 2019, 10:25 am

Netanyahu’s main rivals hire Obama’s strategist for upcoming elections

Report says Joel Benenson will consult for Blue and White party, is set to visit Israel next month

By TOI staff

From right to left: Blue and White leaders Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon, and Gabi Ashkenazi at a faction meeting at the Knesset on June 24, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 6, 2019, 2:38 pm

Blue and White’s Ya’alon rules out merger with other parties ahead of election

‘We don’t need that,’ former defense minister says of potential alliances; top MK Ofer Shelah also says party will keep same lineup for September elections

By TOI staff

Top row L-R: Michael Ben Ari, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich.
Middle row L-R: Moshe Feiglin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett.
Bottom row L-R: Ayelet Shaked, Baruch Marzel, Rafi Peretz. (Flash90)

July 5, 2019, 4:40 am

Poll shows separate unions of small right, left-wing parties each surging

But neither scenario would end coalition deadlock, with potential 19-seat mega-mergers draining support from larger Likud and Blue and White factions

By Raoul Wootliff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman and then-defense minister Ehud Barak at a joint press conference in Jerusalem, on Wednesday, November 21, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

July 3, 2019, 9:27 pm

TV surveys show Liberman holds balance of power, as Likud, Blue and White slip

Ehud Barak’s new party fails to clear threshold in one poll, wins 6 seats in another; Netanyahu remains most popular choice for PM

By TOI staff

Blue and White number two Yair Lapid at a party campaign event for English speakers in Tel Aviv, July 1, 2019. (Hannah Harnest/Times of Israel)

July 3, 2019, 1:40 pm

Touting ‘democratic values,’ Blue and White starts wooing ‘Anglo’ voters

Centrist party holds first English-language campaign event ahead of September elections

By Hannah Harnest and Raoul Wootliff

Blue and White co-chairman Yair Lapid delivers a statement to the media at the Knesset, May 13, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

June 30, 2019, 10:24 pm

Lapid rules out merger with Barak: ‘He’s part of the left’

Blue and White No.2 says only his party can beat Netanyahu; Barak says the size of the bloc matters more

By Raoul Wootliff

Ehud Barak, left, and Gabi AshkenazI, right. (Flash90)

June 29, 2019, 10:36 pm

Blue and White’s Ashkenazi says his party could partner with Ehud Barak

Former army chief says he has no problem with his one-time rival, day after reports suggest ex-PM pushing for partnership with Benny Gantz’s centrist alliance

By TOI staff

Former prime minister Ehud Barak speaks at a press conference announcing his return to politics ahead of national elections in September, Tel Aviv, June 26, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)

June 29, 2019, 8:27 am

Barak said pushing to form center-left bloc that would include Blue and White

Israeli TV reports Blue and White wary of joining forces with ex-PM’s new party, Labor, and Meretz over concerns it could hurt its prospects among right-wing voters

By TOI staff

Former prime minister Ehud Barak at a press conference announcing his return to politics ahead of national elections in September, Tel Aviv, June 26, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)

June 27, 2019, 10:34 am

Left-wing lawmakers cautiously hail Barak’s comeback, right blasts his record

Shaked asks if former PM thinks Israelis have forgotten his ‘botched term,’ while Shaffir says his new party marks a return to ‘courageous’ politics

By Jacob Magid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a conference of his Likud party in Ramat Gan, March 4, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

June 27, 2019, 4:50 am

Everybody complains about Israel’s electoral system. But it works

Especially after this year’s political shenanigans, the chaotic, tribal electoral system gets a bad rap; it is also the source of Israel’s strength, solidarity and democracy

By Haviv Rettig Gur