In a rage-filled speech, Tuesday night, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and announced his intentions of being the central axis that brings the left-wing parties together after the election, assuming he passes the electoral threshold.
After Gantz, it was Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and former Blue and White member Avi Nisskenkorn who appeared particularly irritable as they announced their new The Israelis party and attacked who else – Netanyahu.
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These fits of rage are probably not a coincidence. Their public, which wants more than anything to oust the prime minister, wants to see determination and initiative from their candidates.
But what we saw last night was just the beginning. It was the left-wing camp setting its game pieces out on the board. Over the next month and up until the party lists are submitted in February, they will begin to move those pieces to their benefit. The Left, but also the Right, will be following this with anticipation. Many of the moves that take place on the Left will determine the political fate of New Hope's Gideon Saar, Yamina's Naftali Bennett, and even Netanyahu.
Gantz may have announced his plans to run on his own as the head of Blue and White, but the events of the coming weeks may force him to change his plans. If the next polls predict it will fail to make it into the Knesset, Gantz will be forced to pick one of two bad options: retiring from political life or joining forces with Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid or Huldai. Should he opt for the latter, Gantz will be forced to see his friends who abandoned him in the middle of a campaign and left him bleeding on the side of the road.
The left-wing parties' first option is to create a large alliance, something along the lines of Blue and White or the now-defunct Zionist Union, with or without Meretz, and win the votes on the Left and take the Likud head-on.
If that happens, it will be significant news for the left-wing camp, but not Netanyahu. The biggest loser will be Sa'ar, who is counting on a substantial number of disappointed members of that camp and Blue and White selecting New Hope as their new political home.
Another option would see an alliance of Labor, former Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelach, Blue and White, Meretz, Yesh Atid, and the Israelis party. While this would ensure they all make it past the electoral threshold, it is also guarantees internal fighting as each of the parties tries to make it to the finish line as the largest party in the bloc.
In his press conference, Tuesday, Huldai did not say he was running for prime minister. He's either saving that option for later down the line or he just isn't interested in the job. If Huldai has no qualms about crowning someone else leader, he and Lapid may prefer to run two separate campaigns and then join up after the election. If he does aim for the premiership, their infamous egos will be an issue and could prevent them from acting rationally.
The worst scenario from their perspective would be a partial alliance that leaves scattered bits under constant threat of failing to pass the electoral threshold. In this case, the bloc is liable to lose precious Knesset seats, as was the case when Yamina's Bennett and Ayelet Shaked founded the New Right ahead of the last election and failed to enter the Knesset.
One more issue remains unresolved: After announcing he would be stepping down as Labor chairman Amir Peretz will leave the party without a leader and without anyone interested in holding the position. Peretz had Nissenkorn or Huldai in mind as figures that could be trusted with making something of the party's skeletal remains. But it seems they reached the conclusion a Labor party ballot is more of a burden than a brand. Labor's party members must now wait to learn who will be the next leader to take it on and form an alliance with one of the stronger players, the likes of which Labor will no longer likely be.
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