Eisenkot knew that if he continued to sit on the fence it would collapse on him - and jumped into the water

The joining of Eisenkot and Khanna to Gantz and Saar's Union Party and its transformation into a democratic party should be the game changer of the elections.

This move is supposed to create the potential for a ruling party and it forced Magantz and Sa'er to make difficult concessions.

It's not perfect and doesn't meet all needs - but it's better than nothing

Ben Caspit

08/14/2022

Sunday, August 14, 2022, 11:18 a.m. Updated: 2:56 p.m.

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On video: On the way to the Knesset?

Former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot is expected to announce a run in the elections (Walla system!)

Benny Gantz and Gideon Sa'ar won Eizenkot clothes and Matan Kahana mainly because neither side had any other choice.

Gantz and Sa'ar knew that without Eisenkot, their chances of tattooing the right-wing camp and transferring votes to their side, aspire to zero.

Eisenkot knew that this was, perhaps, his last chance but it was, for sure, also the country's last chance.

And yes, also of the statehood, which is in his soul.

If he continues to hesitate and sit on the fence, there is a possibility that the fence will collapse on him.

The joining of Eisenkot and Matan Kahane to the Union Party of Gantz and Saar, changing its name and turning it into a democratic party should be the game changer of these elections.

This move should add to the new political creation the potential of a ruling party.

The problem is that in Israel not everything that is supposed to happen, happens.

Sometimes everything happens that shouldn't happen.

Gadi Eisenkot had a difficult dilemma: with Lapid there are mandates, there are voters, there is a clear "base", there are good people.

But Lapid, Eisenkot told himself, has a glass ceiling.

He cannot form a government.

The ultra-Orthodox are not with him, the joint is irrelevant.

He is limited.

He is a ruling party, without government.

With Benny Gantz, the options are more varied.

It is not marked by the ultra-Orthodox.

He is not hated by the right.

But he has no mandates.

It is not a ruling party.

He is also limited.

More in Walla!

• Eisenkot joins Gantz and Saar;

  will run under the "state camp" list

"There was no other choice."

Gantz (Photo: Reuven Castro)

In the last days before the decision was made, Gadi Eisenkot toyed with skipping this round as well.

What does he need it for?

Why is he doing this to himself?

He struggled and hesitated and realized that he would not be able to resist.

He has been looking at what is happening here for a long time, with narrowed eyes.

He, who stands at the head of "Yad Ben-Gurion", thinks to himself what the "old man" would be doing now.

The answer is clear: the "old man" would now jump into the water, cold and stormy as it may be, to save the statehood.

This is what Gadi Eisenkot did today.

decided to jump into the water.

No excuses, no constraints, but with placements.

He extracted difficult concessions from Gantz and Sa'ar: the two parties (Blue and White and New Hope) merge into one: the state camp.

There will be primaries (after the upcoming elections).

The goal: to turn this cluster into a potential ruling party.

It's not perfect, it's not clear, it doesn't meet all needs, but it's much better than nothing.

When it comes to the war for Israeli democracy, there is no room for connoisseurs,

Only on January 1 will we know if it was successful.

Eisenkot (Photo: Niv Aharonson)

Once upon a time, a party called "The State List" arose here.

It was founded by David Ben-Gurion after his disappointment with Mapai and the split of Rafai.

It was his swan song.

He retired from the Knesset after a year, not to return.

Members Gantz, Sa'ar, Eisenkot and Kahana do not intend to retire.

Ben-Gurion retired after doing his part: he established the state, dismantled the Palmach, established the state's institutions and strengthened statehood. Now, there are those who rise up for its destruction. For the gentlemen in the "state camp", as opposed to the founders of the "state list" , there is no choice. They haven't done their thing yet.

The main and almost sole operator of the current connection is attorney Ronan Aviani, Gantz's Kambatz.

When I asked who Aviani worked in front of, I was told "in front of everyone."

On Friday, the insight that Eisenkot was leaning towards Lapid took shape around Gantz.

Aviani was thrown into the campaign with a mission: bring Izenkot, now.

He brought.

It was a grueling three-day marathon, at the end of which the suit was sewn in the hope that it would fit everyone's measurements.

Matan Kahana, in this context, is a step no less significant than Eisenkot.

The intention is to create a critical mass, a specific weight that will break through the existing walls and convince voters to switch parties.

Only on January 1 will we know if it was successful.

"Succeeded in making the big connection."

Ashkenazi (Photo: Flash 90, Miriam Elster)

Eisenkot's hesitation reminds me very much of Gabi Ashkenazi's hesitation in a similar situation, before the Moed A (2019) elections.

Even then, the debate was between Lapid and Gantz, who founded Hosan Israel.

Even then, there was initially a tendency towards Lapid, but it ended with Gantz.

But Ashkenazi, unlike Eisenkot, managed to make the big connection.

To be the famous "penny to the pound", which led to the establishment of Blue-White.

Eisencott realized quite early on that it would be impossible to reproduce.

The bad blood between the former friends is too thick.

This, and more: it is not at all certain that a renewed connection between Lapid and Gantz would have increased the pool of voters.

Maybe even the other way around.

In the end, the generals trust each other.

Ashkenazi said at the time, in closed conversations, that "Ganz was there."

Ashkenazi knows what it is to be the Chief of Staff. What weight of responsibility is involved. The size of the decisions. He decided to go with what he knows. In the end it was enough for him to melt everyone into one frame. This frame cannot be melted again. The move of establishing "the camp State" is the only possible alternative.

"There is no need to eulogize."

Lapid (photo: Reuven Castro)

Gantz and Eisenkot met between 10 and 12 times in the past year.

There is a deep understanding between them and not a little mutual appreciation.

For those who forgot: With the cancellation of Yoav Galant's appointment as Chief of Staff by the government, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak decided to assign the position of Chief of Staff to Eisenkot.

He refused and referred them to Gantz.

"He was deputy chief of staff, I wasn't," he said. If he had accepted the position, which anyone else in the world would have done, it is possible that Gantz would now join him, and not the other way around. What has been done cannot be undone. The fate of this union depends From now on the chemistry between his people, the dynamics, the connection and the quality of the campaign.

There is no need to eulogize Yair Lapid.

He is a seasoned and outstanding campaigner.

He is gaining points in the position of prime minister at a fast pace.

He is, still, the arrowhead of the bloc.

He is not easily broken, he is cool-headed and today he did the most right thing to do: he congratulated Eisenkot on his joining fully and publicly, even though he did not join him.

On the other side, I assume, they started the poison machine, recalibrated it, and loaded it with the details of the new target: Izenkot.

Gadi Eisenkot.

Major General (Mill), Israel II, born in Tiberias, raised in Eilat, son of Moroccan parents.

Now bring material that will prove the opposite.

• 2022 election

Tags

• Gadi Eisenkot

• Gideon Saar

• Benny Gantz

• Matan Kahana