Senior members of the Blue and White party were enraged Sunday after party leader Benny Gantz remarked that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a leadership rotation deal with him in the next government, with Gantz leading first he would be "willing to consider it."
Blue and White, a union of the Israel Resilience, Yesh Atid, and Telem parties, have stated repeatedly that it will not join a Netanyahu-led government, saying joining a Likud coalition or forming a national unity government would require Likud to replace Netanyahu as its leader.
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Gantz, however, has repeatedly gone back and forth on the issue, which according to Blue and White insiders, has other senior party members, including Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, Telem leader Moshe Ya'alon and Israel Resilience MK Gabi Ashkenazi, furious.
Facing backlash over the comment Gantz tweeted, "Blue and White will form the next government that will call for unity, without Netanyahu."
He then tried to walk the statement back further, saying, he "didn't hear the question well," and reiterating, "I won't sit in a Netanyahu government. I'm here to replace him – make no mistake about that."
Speaking with Army Radio on Monday, Lapid reiterated that Blue and White will not enter a Netanyahu government saying, "The man is facing three criminal indictments; he cannot be prime minister."
Many in Blue and White were reportedly stunned to learn that Gantz was even entertaining the notion of a rotation with Netanyahu.
"Who's to say Netanyahu would even go for that? And as second to Benny, no less?" one party member told Israel Hayom. "Gantz did some real damage with this arrogant statement."
Another party insider said, "This was probably not the smartest thing to say and it was definitely not coordinated with anyone. Gantz usually stays on message. I have no idea where this improvisation came from."
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
