Defense Minister Benny Gantz appeared in a pre-recorded interview Thursday at Israel Hayom's election conference. The head of the State Party is managing the campaign's last days amidst security tension in the face of Palestinian terrorism and after a series of successful operations that thwarted the Lion's Den that was established.
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Q: We are in the midst of the Lion's Den incident, a terror group that made headlines over the past few days after the IDF's operation. Can we say that their story is now behind us?
"I believe this is a gang of terrorists that chose a name for itself, so let's not make a mountain out of a molehill by claiming it has the dimensions of an organization. These are several dozen terrorists whom we need to strike ultimately. We arrested several of them, we struck some of them; we will continue their pursuit. There is nothing here that you can say is behind us."
Q: What was your impression of the security cooperation with Prime Minister Yair Lapid?
"Perfectly fine. I am doing my work and am working in coordination with him. I also worked in coordination with Netanyahu."
Q: "Does Lapid understand security?"
"He understands what I tell him. We do the job very well. This was so in other cases as well."
Q: I am trying to understand – does the prime minister have the same comprehension of security that you have?
"First – he does; second – he does his job properly; we work in proper cooperation. I want to emphasize to you that our security challenges are valid; they should not be political topics. We must not mix politics into this incident but rather act in the name of security on the security level and in the name of internal security, which is important."
Gantz also addressed Israel Hayom's recent article "The strange story of PM Lapid's military service."
Q: Forgive me for returning to this topic if we already discussed this, but much was made of Lapid's military service in the election campaigns. Perhaps you, as a former chief of staff, can tell us what the prime minister did in his military service?
"I am unfamiliar with Yair Lapid's file; you are welcome to ask him for an answer. I am telling you that I served in the IDF for 38 years and have a complete service record. You can see when I began each thing and when I finished each thing, and what my opinion was in every one of the places I served in. We have this nice little 'dossier' in the army, that when it comes to senior figures in the State of Israel, access to their files is blocked – and it is good that this is so."
Like the entire political system, although there are no results yet, Gantz has already prepared for 10:01 pm this Tuesday. The defense minister rules out the possibility of forming a government with the support of Hadash-Ta'al, and he tries to explain how he will nevertheless form a government.
Q: You spoke about them not being your partners, and that you will also not lean on them. But in the political constellation that is supposed to be made up of the "Just Not Bibi" bloc, let's call it that, there is no other choice but to lean on them. The prime minister also vehemently denies this.
"So, first of all, it is clear to me where I am – I am in the State Party, which only favors the State of Israel. It does not favor Bibi and his personal interests and will not lean on either edge of the political spectrum. If Bibi will have a government of 61 members that depends on the extremists, let him do what he will – I need to respect the voter's decision. I will not be with Bibi p[Netanyahu]. I do not think Yair will successfully form a government in future constellations. Leave me alone regarding a number here or there; we will wait for the results. Ultimately, I think the third option is that people will need to come with us and form a stately government that does not lean on the edges of the political spectrum."
Q: Your government ultimately comprises the Left, and there is no other choice than to lean on their votes from the outside.
"We do not want to lean on the edges of the political spectrum; we think this is an unsuccessful experiment. To prevent this matter, I call on the public to go and vote; in this case, I obviously recommend voting for me. To achieve as much power as possible, as much better capability as possible, the stately middle-of-the-road approach should be allowed to be the thing that sets the state's agenda."
Q: Are Religious Zionist Party leaders Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich considered the extreme edges of the political spectrum in this government?
"From what I hear from Ben-Gvir, he is very radical and very extreme, and he is also not up to date regarding anything. That is to say, all kinds of statements."
Q: This is not the first time you have made a distinction between them.
"First of all, I truly believe there is a difference: One of them did not serve in the IDF at all, and the other one served in the IDF for a short time. I am against Ben-Gvir's provocative conduct that has nothing backing it – neither courage, experience, nor knowledge. He always says, 'I will watch over the IDF soldiers,' so I have really been asking myself over the past decade, with the number of incidents we went through, how many times have soldiers been prosecuted? When there are mishaps, we deal with them, we back the soldiers, we stay with the soldiers, we were there! We were fired upon dozens of times, so who can tell us tales about protecting the soldiers and backing them?! So, this is one example. Yesterday, I heard Smotrich saying at some convention – that he will appoint religious brigadier-generals to strengthen the faith. Mr. Smotrich, are you even listening to what you are saying?!"
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Gantz also addressed the Israel-Lebanon maritime border agreement, which was authorized by the government Thursday and signed after, as you may recall, causing a political storm.
"I think this is a good agreement, a right agreement. In the end, in my view, it answers all of the State of Israel's security needs in the arrangement between us and Lebanon with everything related to the nearby waters, our security conduct in the area of the economic waters, and it seems fair to me from an economic point of view. I think it will radiate stability in this area," Gantz said.
Q: Will we now have quiet from Hezbollah for the next 20-30 years?
"I will not go into it. I think Hezbollah remains a very significant threat to the state of Israel. The organization serves as Iran's front arm, with extensive fire capabilities."
