Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz stated, in a conversation with media person Attila Schömpelby published this evening (Monday), that he no longer rules out sitting with Benjamin Netanyahu in the government - and came out strongly against his bloc members.
""The time has come to abandon the 'just not Bibi' and move to 'just not extremists.' We must stop the civil war that is coming - we are close to a situation where someone will die here," Gantz claimed in an interview. "I will not give Netanyahu the 61st finger. I never gave him one. Every time I entered his government, it was because there was no choice. It was always in spite of Netanyahu and not for Netanyahu. I gave Bennett and Lapid a government in my hands, even though I had the opportunity to be prime minister. They lost it. The responsibility is on them.".
Yesterday, Channel 12 reported that, according to a senior Blue and White official, Gantz is striving for a unity government with Bennett and Lieberman - to be led by Netanyahu. In conversations with undecided voters, he also says that the goal is to win, but adds that, in the end, the decision is made at the ballot box.
Gantz stated in an interview that if Netanyahu reaches a coalition of 61 seats, he will call on his opposition friends to join the government with him. "I intend to do everything so that Netanyahu does not have 61, but if the people decide that this is what is happening, I will go to my opposition friends - Lapid, Yvette, Eisenkot - and tell them that we must not repeat the mistake of the previous elections and this irresponsibility again, and I will call on them to join me and isolate the extremists. I will not let Itamar Ben-Gvir be the Minister of Defense for our children.".
Gantz also spoke out in an interview against Gadi Eisenkot's plan to form a minority government with support from the Arab parties: "After October 7, it is not possible. It is impossible to make fateful decisions for Israel's security like this. I do not intend to sit in the government with someone who just yesterday shouted 'Gaza will win.' We will take care of Arab society, which is an integral part of Israeli society, but we cannot rely on them to support the government, we cannot have the Arab parties determine whether or not we go to war.".
He harshly attacked leaders of other opposition parties. "Anyone who saw women raped, people kidnapped, babies murdered and was afraid to bleed mandates while our brothers bled in the south on October 7th - let him not preach to me how to behave as a leader. They want to win the civil war and I want to prevent it. Hating Bibi more than you love the country and sitting in the stands and screaming instead of making a change - that is weakness.".
When asked about the situation in the polls, he replied: "I do not intend to withdraw from the struggle for the State of Israel. I represent 80 mandates that want and need what I propose. Who exactly is calling on me to resign? People who were not willing to go under the stretcher when citizens here were massacred? Those to whom I gave government and they wasted it? That they will not preach morality to me. I will not waste votes and I will continue to serve the entire State of Israel, those who voted for me and those who did not.".
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