It was a well-written speech, given by a person who didn't posture, who projected self-confidence without arrogance, along with responsibility and judgment. Like other senior military officers who preceded him in politics and wavered between Labor and the Likud, Benny Gantz apparently doesn't believe that Right and Left even exist. He thinks that in politics, he can keep doing what he did in the army: serve for the good of the state. He's just ignoring that there is no such absolute good, and that in the army he served the policies of both right-wing and left-wing governments. As an officer, he needed to operate without taking ideology into account. If he has to decide, he will need to pick one of the two options.
It was a speech by a reasonable person, who aspires to peace and who is preparing for war, who threatens his enemies but who is willing to ensure that he will not attack them without reason and that he will take care of their humanitarian needs. It was a speech by a "black dove" or a Democrat like Scoop Jackson, who talks about keeping Jerusalem a united and sovereign city, and who is unwilling to give up the 28 Arab villages and refugee camps in the city's neglected eastern half. He talks about keeping the Golan Heights under Israeli sovereignty permanently, and ignores the fact that most Israeli prime ministers have been willing to give it up.
Gantz's lengthy silence on political issues covered up his positions. On Tuesday evening, despite his exaggerated caution, he removed the veil. Now the Right can say he's a leftist, and the Left can say he's a right-winger, and they'll both be partly correct. But they won't be able to say that he's hiding his worldview or his plans.
Benny Gantz is a worthy man, and he passed the test of the first speech. The next batch of polls will show his party winning more seats than it did in the previous polls, and the question is, will he manage to keep his initial edge over the next two months. He might have a tough time, and the party he has put together might encounter difficulties that will keep it from taking off.
But it also might be that the dark horse in the 2019 election could win support from unaffiliated voters who are looking for a leader. But the party's supposed agreement guaranteeing places for former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Zvi Hauser, and Yoaz Hendel (all right-wingers) at the top of the joint faction should be a signal to center-left voters that what came into being this week is not from their camp.
