In the end, Gadi Eisenkot went with his heart.
The political commentators will indeed make accounts of profit and loss on his behalf, all of which he also made himself, but if there is something that prevailed it was not the mind but the emotion.
Eisenkot trusts Gantz, believes in him.
It's a bond forged over years of acquaintance in moments some of which are difficult, tense, formative.
Moments when there is no political flamboyance and "choponi", but decisions are required that separate life and death.
More than that: Eisenkot also believes in Gantz's intentions;
He wants there to be a better country here;
that he does not act for himself, but for us.
It was precisely these reasons that led Eisenkot to jump into the water.
In recent weeks, he used to tell everyone he talked to that there are 20 reasons why not to enter political life, and only one reason why he does - the State of Israel.
It is true that every politician says this sentence, but there are only a few like Eisenkot;
Not only because of his security record, nerves of steel and ability to make decisions (eg the night when the special operation got involved in Khan Yunis), but precisely because of his heart and extraordinary sensitivity.
As expected, there were those who attacked Eisenkot for joining the Ashkenazi Generals Party.
Somewhat amusing, considering the fact that this is a Moroccan from Eilat, who lives in a simple apartment in Herzliya and stays away like fire from mass events and rich friends.
He adapted to citizenship quickly, and with the exception of a few forays into the public arena stayed out of the limelight - something that certainly did not add to his controversial attractiveness as a politician.
And that's exactly the point: it's not certain how many mandates Eisenkot will add to the Gantz-Saar list, if any.
He won't bring in voters from the soft right, though he might attract center-left votes that still yearn for a Rabinist figure with a social flavor.
What he does bring is a statehood that almost doesn't exist in our districts anymore, and a cleanliness of hands that stands out against the background of the many convicted-suspects-accused who have starred in politics and the Knesset in recent years.
Bottom line: Adam
Eisenkot sees himself as a connector between populations of all shades of Israeli society.
The first two people he will be required to connect with are Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.
His dream was to establish a real big state list, which would include blue and white together with other elements.
At the moment it seems like an impossible task, although those who know Eisenkot know that he will not stop until the lists are closed.
Eisenkot says he came to politics for a marathon, not a sprint.
This is also how he behaved in the army, when he gave up the possibility of becoming Chief of Staff in favor of Gantz, because he thought he was not mature enough. It is likely that even now he sees himself at the top someday, although the odds do not look in his favor: Israeli society has long since not sanctified the values he brings, And on the way there, he will also be required to grow ambition and the ability to sway crowds, without which his chances of surviving the brutal politics, and perhaps also surviving difficult days in the frustrating opposition, are slim.
But in Eisenkot's case, it is precisely the bottom line that is important: if there were 120 people in the Israeli Knesset who would think more about us and less about themselves, things would be better here.
And on this, everyone who knows him is ready to sign: this is a particularly decent person, his mouth and heart are equal, and his hands and intentions are clean.
The fact that he was chief of staff is important for the record, but much more important than the person he is.
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