While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already kicked off his second 2019 election campaign, senior Blue and White members tell Israel Hayom that party leader Benny Gantz's slow decision-making is having a negative influence on the list.
According to one senior party official, "We are waiting whole days for even the most simple decisions [to be made]. The sense is that all the rival parties are racing forward, and we are being left behind."
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The official said, "A majority of Blue and White's decisions were ultimately made by Benny, and that is why a majority of the decisions have gotten stuck." Gantz's fellow party leaders Moshe Ya'alon and Gabi Ashkenazi are already accustomed to this, but Lapid has yet to get used to it, the official said. "The three of them already know that their … meetings end without any decisions [being made] because of Benny's slow decision-making process."
As another senior Blue and White official put it, "Gantz is like a turtle, it takes him time to decide."
In a statement, Blue and White said, "It is thanks to Benny Gantz's decision-making process that Blue and White succeeded" in the last election. "The strategy that will lead us to change the government in September is now being formed, and we will do that in spite of all the critics."
Meanwhile, Labor leader candidate Amir Peretz has clarified he plans to make every effort to form alliances with members of the left-wing bloc, among them former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Gesher party leader Orly Levy-Abekasis, former Zionist Union leader Tzipi Livni, former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and former Shin Bet security agency head Yuval Diskin.
In a post to Facebook, Saturday, Peretz wrote that under his leadership, Labor would be a "strong and decisive factor" in the upcoming election. He said that "immediately following my election, Tuesday, a team headed by [Labor lawmaker] Omer Bar-Lev will begin official talks toward an alliance and bringing in parties and personalities" with the goal of ousting the current government.
Labor is set to hold party primaries on Tuesday, following the departure of Avi Gabbay, who brought the party six Knesset seats in the last election.
The assessment is that the person chosen to lead the party will act immediately upon their election to forge alliances with Barak, the Meretz party and other forces, in order to create a center-Left bloc.
Peretz drew criticism for an interview with Israel Hayom over the weekend in which he said he had no intention of serving as Barak's No. 2.
Itzik Shmuli, who is also vying for the role of Labor party leader, said, "It's important to look at the big picture. Our camp's ability to win is dependent on the ability to collaborate without preconditions
"I do not intend to get dragged into a battle of egos and internal disputes. I intend to fight for the life of the party against all those who threaten to wipe it out.
Labor MK Stav Shafir, who is also running for party leader, said, "I will do everything in order to [form an alliance]." She said she was in talks with Barak and his fellow party member, former IDF general Yair Golan, as well as newly elected Meretz party leader Nitzan Horowitz, Gantz and Lapid.
"I will do everything so that we win this election with a large camp."
