If the silence had a sound, it could be heard loudly this evening (Tuesday) at the state camp headquarters, with the publication of the results of the samples. From the beginning, and unusually, no activists came to the list's headquarters in the village of Maccabiah.
The announcement of the results, which indicated a majority of more than 60 mandates for the Netanyahu bloc and a result of 11 to 13 mandates for the state camp, was received with disappointment that the few headquarters workers who arrived at the scene could not hide.
The few who came down watch the news models with disappointment, photo: Gideon Markovitch
Where did everyone go?, Photo: Gideon Markovich
Building on Lapid's failure
During the day, the state camp refused to name a number of mandates that would be a success in the elections, and conveyed the message that "the only game is who can form a government, break up Netanyahu's bloc and get Israel out of trouble - and the only person capable of that is Benny Gantz."
Throughout the week, concern reigned in the list in view of the latest polls that predicted a low double-digit number of mandates for the party, and even more so in view of the consistent weakening trend it suffered from in the weeks before the elections.
Even if they do not admit it outright, the state camp understands that the race is no longer against Lapid for the leadership of the bloc, but against religious Zionism for the title of the third largest party.
The goal is to reach an area of 15 mandates, but the biggest concern is a single-digit figure or close to it.
At the moment, they absolutely reject there any possibility of joining Netanyahu, even in exchange for a rotation in which Gantz will serve first, and even if remaining in the opposition means a narrow right-wing government that will rely on the votes of Ben Gabir, Smotrich and practically every Knesset member of the religious Zionists.
However, it is possible that in the moment of truth and under pressure from President Herzog, who recently said in closed conversations that he would work to establish a unity government, Gantz will change his decision.
The most optimistic scenario in terms of the list is a situation where Lapid receives the mandate to form a government and fails in the task, and then President Herzog decides to give Gantz a chance, apparently because of his preferential connections with the ultra-Orthodox.
In such a situation, the state camp believes, even Gadi Eisenkot, who said that there is no legitimacy for a prime minister with a low number of mandates, will be satisfied since he will realize that all other options have been exhausted, and the only alternative is to drag Israel into another election system.
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