Gantz is far from being a masterpiece of leadership, but he too is fed up with the torch's stranglehold • Now it remains to be seen if he will survive the brutal campaign that awaits him on the left • Opinion
In the coming days, a lot of things were heard in the media condemning Benny Gantz. They are disappointed with him, thinking he is "creeping up" to Netanyahu's government, angry at him for not being able to "get rid of Bibi" and so on and so forth.
Gantz was elected chairman of the temporary Knesset: "In an emergency, we have no right to stand" // Photo: Knesset Channel
Everything is expected, natural and almost self-evident in the banal drama that has become of our politics. But these days it is important to remember that it is precisely Gantz who has shown that he complied with the order of the hour. Eventually, in the moment of truth, he discovered national leadership and responsibility and retired from the stranglehold of Yair Lapid, Ofer Shalah and Avigdor Lieberman. The one exception to this story is not Gantz, who did the most elementary act of all - joining a unity government during a tremendous national crisis - but everyone else, who for the sake of personal whims and unclear motives decided to thwart any possibility of unity government even though it is the desired result of the last three election campaigns consistently.
About two weeks ago I wrote a column here calling for my son Gantz to leave the cockpit. "Hold your hand under the chair, there's a small handle. Give it a little tug, hold your breath and hop! You're out." I wrote then. "The cool wind will blow you, the panoramic scenery is charming and will slowly return to the normalcy, moderation and normal politics that Israeli citizens so much miss." Benny Gantz is far from a masterpiece of leadership, and the fact that he will be maneuvered into this place after three unnecessary and futile election campaigns will prove, but in the end, he is also tired. The State of Israel needs stable leadership, tearing healing, and all the meaningless slogans circulating in blue and white during the campaign and the only political expression of national reconciliation is a unity government, as it is.
So right, everyone has to settle for something, and the concessions that the right will make in cases like the sentences, for example, will be painful. But the results allow no other outline. The 78 MK government is the closest thing to a national consensus one can imagine.
Needless to say, Gantz's challenge is still ahead of him. During the campaign, he has much to complain about the publications against him, his allegations and the criticism (justified in my opinion) voiced against him. All this is nothing compared to what will be his share in the coming weeks and months. If Gantz thought the Likud campaign was cruel, then he was going to study a chapter or two in brutal and impotent campaign laws. Will he survive the next two years until he becomes a prime minister in rotation?