Benny Gantz, the 67-year-old former deputy prime minister and defence minister, has pulled out of Israel's tightly contested election race. His party, Blue and White (Kahol Lavan), had been polling below the 3.25 percent threshold needed to win a seat in the 120-member Knesset, according to surveys in the lead-up to the vote.
Gantz, who entered politics in 2018, served in a national unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2020 to 2021. He later joined Netanyahu's war cabinet formed after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which led to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Gantz quit the emergency cabinet in June 2024, saying Netanyahu 'is preventing us from advancing toward true victory'.
In announcing his withdrawal, Gantz said he would continue working for unity. Reporting from Ramallah, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh described the move as 'in line with how he's conducted himself' since entering politics. Odeh noted that Gantz's vision of unity was narrow, referring to 'a unity government of Zionist parties' that would exclude Palestinian Israeli parties and non-Zionist parties.
Netanyahu's Likud party and the far-right coalition it leads are locked in a tight race with a self-styled Zionist opposition alliance, according to recent polling, though neither bloc appears on track to win an outright majority. Two Arab-led electoral lists representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up about 20 percent of the population, are projected to win 13 seats. Both main blocs have ruled out forming a government with them.
Opposition leaders, including Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, described Gantz's decision as 'correct' and 'responsible'. Former Israeli ambassador Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera the departure was 'electorally ... completely irrelevant and inconsequential', adding that Gantz had lost 'a lot of his aura' when he 'overstayed his welcome in the Netanyahu government'.