De Ja Vo: Will the new cockpit of Gantz, Sa'ar and Eisenkot succeed in recreating the original?

Since the launch of Blue and White, not much has changed in Gantz's strategy in rebuilding his party, with an ideological chasm separating its right and left sides even now.

This time Gantz aims to replace not only Netanyahu but also Lapid, but despite the intentions, the bloc map remains divided and frozen, and without a decision

His dew

08/19/2022

Friday, August 19, 2022, 07:00 Updated: 09:38

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Eisenkot in his debut speech: "I decided to take action, Gantz is the most worthy" (Photo: Kontakt)

The fifth election in three and a half years is surrounded, by necessity, in a hovering aura and a constant feeling of De Je Vue.

74 days to the elections, Itamar Ben Gabir and Bezalel Smotrich are arguing and threatening to run separately, in Meretz and the Labor Party they resolutely reject the pressures for unification on the left, and in the joint list they are facing an acute internal crisis and are considering disbanding.

All these titles sound awfully familiar, but not because of some brain experience that makes us momentarily confused in our consciousness, but simply because we've really been here before.

Some of the actors change, others get stronger or weaker and slightly change the plot line, but in every round of elections, in the phase of unifications and connections before the closing of the lists, the same show comes on stage.

Even on Sunday evening, at the launch event of the "State Camp" party of Benny Gantz, Gideon Sa'ar and Gadi Eisenkot, there was sometimes a feeling of De Je Vue, like the cult song of Idan Alterman and Avi Greinik.

In February 2019, on the eve of the launch of the "Blue and White" party at the exhibition grounds, Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, and two other chiefs of staff - Moshe Ya'alon and Gabi Ashkenazi - took the stage together for the first time and promised to establish a new movement and a ruling party, which would work for all parts of Israeli society and unite Between right, center and left. More than three and a half years later, on a less glittering stage in Kfar Maccabiah, Gantz and Sa'ar introduced the new chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, and announced a new party framework that would be a home for everyone who believes in statehood, Zionism and unity, and a few other slogans that we have already heard before .

The position has changed, the faces have also changed, but Gantz's strategy is the same as the original, if you will, Blue and White, version 2.0: establishing a center party with a right wing in the form of Sa'ar and Ze'ev Elkin, who fill the former role of Ya'alon, and a left wing in the form of Eisenkot, who took the The place of a torch and ofr shelah.

The addition of a refugee to the right, Matan Kahana, was intended to attract religious Zionists.

The sides are once again separated by a deep ideological chasm when it comes to the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the patriotic consensus around issues such as the protection of democracy and the rule of law, the unification of the rifts in the nation and promises of governmental stability should bridge it and appeal to audiences from all ends of the spectrum.

The faces have changed, the strategy is the same.

The announcement of the joining of Izenkot in the village of Maccabiah, this week (photo: Reuven Castro)

However, between version 1 and 2 of Blue and White there was nevertheless a fundamental change in circumstances.

So, Gantz overnight became the leading candidate for Prime Minister and was crowned the leader of the camp that sought to replace Netanyahu.

This time, in the prime minister's office sits Lapid, the leader of the largest party in the center-left bloc, and Netanyahu is the one trying to change the government.

Gantz aspires to join the battle between them as a third wheel - and no less than he wants to prevent Netanyahu from returning, he also wants to replace Lapid in the position.

Given that Gantz's strategic goal is to recreate the success of the original "Blue and White" project, the decision to give up the brand itself is puzzling, to say the least.

At Eisenkot's insistence, he agreed to change the name of the party to the "state camp", and say goodbye to a much lighter and catchy moniker, with which he ran for four election campaigns and invested millions to become a brand.

But Gantz was willing to pay high prices in order to re-establish a cockpit with which he could soar back to the position of candidate for Prime Minister - and also stop Lapid's ascension in the position and prevent him from gaining a gap over him within the camp.

Thus, he hastened to close the initial connection with Sa'ar earlier than expected, last month, in order to anticipate the expected surge for the lamp following the hosting of Biden's presidential visit.

He very generously gave the members of New Hope a respectable share of the real places on the list, which exceeded their real situation in the polls.

Last weekend, which opened with a "Maariv" poll in which Lapid reached 25 mandates, while the momentum of the connection with Sa'ar eroded and approached a single-digit area, Gantz accelerated contacts with Eisenkot.

And the fear that Lapid would be able to recruit the former Chief of Staff to his ranks increased the pressure on his confidant, attorney Ronan Aviani, to end the negotiations as soon as possible. In an attempt to tip the balance, Gantz convinced Eisenkot that Lapid had no path to forming the government, and presented him with surveys that predict that the partnership Between them it can reach 16-17 mandates and produce a real change in the map. He agreed to the multitude of demands and conditions set by the dissolution of Blue and White and a new hope for a new political framework and a commitment to democratic election procedures in the future, and finally, also to the name change. A condition that they would never accept in the future. No less Since Gantz wanted Eisenkot with him, he wanted him not to go with Lapid.

More in Walla!

The Eisenkot effect: Gantz gets stronger, Labor weakens and Lapid maintains his power

To the full article

More than Gantz wanted Eisenkot with him, he wanted him not to go with Lapid.

Chairman of Yesh Atid Lapid (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The friendly hugs of Gantz, Sa'ar and Eisenkot on the evening of the launch of the bromance highlighted another familiar phenomenon from the past.

Like the cockpit of Blue and White, which was all about the purity of the male sex, the decision-making top of the state camp is also devoid of women, and the top women alongside Gantz and Saar, Panina Tamno Sheta and Yifat Shasha Biton, were not invited to participate in the celebrations of the new partnership on stage.

Although the historical Blue and White has been hugely successful during three election campaigns, without adequate female representation, this time, it could make it difficult for them to attract votes from the left, which is likely to be conquered by a female leader next week, if Zehava Galon is elected as the head of Meretz and joins Merev Michaeli.

The state camp is aware of the problem, and Gantz and Eisenkot are pressuring a former MK from the Labor Party, attorney Roital Sweid, to join the team as a female force.

Sweid was supposed to be the second rib in the "Izenkot Group" and get the 9th place reserved for her on the list, but as part of the negotiations, he agreed to incorporate Matan Kahana in her place as part of his strength.

Eisenkot's next place,

But even the polls are accompanied by a constant sense of de Je Vue, when from week to week the map remains divided and frozen without a decision.

Even the initial effect of Eisenkot did not cause any jolt or bang yet.

In the first polls, published at the same time as his debut speech, the staggered Gantz and Saar did indeed gain 3-2 mandates to 14-12, but he did not change the image of the blocs who are also stuck in the flounder's déjà vu.

Lapid, who suffered a severe political blow when he failed to recruit Eisenkot, weakened only slightly as a result, and so did Netanyahu, if at all.

The main victims as a result of the new connection in the center are the small parties, on the right and on the left.

The Zionist spirit of Ayelet Shaked and Yoaz Handel, which barely hovered in the area of ​​the blocking percentage, lost Matan Kahana's ticket, and is moving further and further away from him.

The addition of Eisenkot, the Bithonist Ben Gironist, also halted the momentum of the primaries in the Labor Party and threatens to erode it in the traditional audiences.

At work, they are considering using one of the armors that Chairman Michaeli has and recruiting a security figure of their own, such as Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, to defend against the future.

• 2022 election

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• Benny Gantz

• Gadi Eisenkot

• Blue and white