Tensions were running high among members of the Blue and White party in the days leading up to the Knesset's decision to hold a new election, Wednesday night.
Close confidantes of Blue and White party co-chairman Benny Gantz have confirmed he was not happy to hear that his fellow co-chair Yair Lapid had refused to confirm to the media that Gantz would continue to serve as party leader.
Lapid and Gantz had agreed to share the role of prime minister on a rotating basis had Blue and White won the April 9 election.
Following the demonstration organized by Blue and White at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on Saturday night, Lapid had refused to confirm that in the coming election, his partner and former IDF chief would head the party's Knesset list. On Wednesday, though, Lapid did an about-face, announcing that "if there are repeat elections, Benny Gantz will head the Blue and White list and will be our candidate for prime minister."
According to sources close to Lapid, the Yesh Atid party chief will continue to support Gantz on the condition Telem Party leader Moshe Ya'alon and fellow former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi remain in the party's leadership.
"The dispute has been resolved"
As part of the union between the Israel Resilience, Yesh Atid and Telem parties, now known as Blue and White, and in accordance with the agreement between the party's four leaders, Gantz is the leader of the party at this stage. While all four leaders have a hand in the party's decision-making process, Gantz's vote carries double the weight.
Sources in Blue and White have not ruled out the possibility that Ashkenazi, ranked fourth on the list, will lead the party in the coming election, should it be held in September of this year. But asked about the possibility by Israel Hayom, Askenazi responded, "Nonsense. Blue and White is united. There was a dispute and it has been resolved. We marked an incredible achievement, and we are all united under Benny's leadership. Blue and White is the most important thing. Benny Gantz brought us this incredible achievement, and if we go to an election, we will do so in the same format."
Meanwhile, the Likud's attempts to poach Gadi Yevarkan, number 33 on the Blue and White party list, were ongoing, Wednesday.
Israel Hayom has learned that following reports confirmed by Blue and White that Likud had attempted to lure Yevarkan with government roles, Israel Hayom has learned that Yevarkan has been offered to head the Immigration and Absorption Ministry.
According to a source with knowledge of the attempts to lure Yevarkan away from Blue and White, "Ministers in the Likud offered him the position of absorption minister, and told him that beyond that, they were willing to discuss other things, like budgets for other issues he would like to promote." According to the source, these talks were ongoing.
Yevarkan declined the offer from Likud, which he reported to Blue and White. While he has not spoken publicly about the affair, a close confidante told Israel Hayom that "Gadi is a man who always despised zigzaggers. He believes in his friends. He is a member of the stately Right, and it is important to him that he be remembered as being on the right side of history, as someone who was loyal to his voters."
As for the crisis in coalition talks in recent days, Blue and White pointed the finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defended Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Lieberman as if he were one of their own. Lieberman stuck to his principles throughout, party members said, arguing that if Israel were to go to an election it would be because Netanyahu had bowed to the haredim. As a result, they argued, Israel would end up with "frightening" coalition agreements.
MK Orna Barbivai told Israel Hayom: "I think the draft law is not the real story here, and this is all one big show. Netanyahu does only what promotes and assures his own survival, and that is why the dissolution of the Knesset points to his having failed. It is my sense that there is something bigger brewing behind the scenes that is unrelated to the draft law, and it will be revealed very soon."
