Newsletters
Former Israeli defense minister and army chief Benny Gantz said Monday he will not run in Israel’s Oct. 27 election, eight days before the vote, after polls consistently showed his Blue and White party falling short of the threshold to enter parliament.
"I will not run in the upcoming elections. I will continue to fight for unity. This is the only solution that will prevent another disaster and protect Israel from all the challenges at home and abroad," Gantz said, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
He was expected to hold a news conference Monday evening.
Gantz’s exit prevents votes for the anti-Netanyahu bloc from being wasted in a tight race in which neither camp is projected to reach the 61 seats needed to govern, and it piles pressure on small right-wing parties to follow suit.
Just last week, Gantz vowed to stay in the race "to the end."
"No matter what happens, I’m in because the country needs saving," he told a conference organized by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.
"The decision was made today because tomorrow soldiers begin voting, and he didn’t want to waste votes of soldiers who wanted to vote for him," a person close to Gantz told Ynet.
"In the end he made the necessary decision because he understood that at this time there is no point in running," the person added.
Blue and White lawmaker Alon Schuster had argued privately against staying in, saying: "We must not burn votes for nothing."
The party will remain on the ballot unless all of its candidates withdraw, Haaretz reported.
"I thank my friend, Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz, for his correct and responsible decision to withdraw from the race in the most fateful elections since the founding of the state," said Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival.
Gantz made the decision without speaking to Eisenkot.
"Gantz made a responsible and correct decision. At a fateful hour for Israel’s future, the shared responsibility is to ensure the victory of the change bloc," said Democrats leader Yair Golan.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid used similar language.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of Religious Zionism, said the left was now "organized perfectly so that no vote is lost," while accusing Ofer Winter and other fringe right-wing parties of "total irresponsibility" for staying in the race below the threshold.
"Gantz is showing responsibility toward his friends on the left so as not to lose a single vote. It’s time for the right to come to its senses too. If Winter withdraws, I’ll take my hat off to him," said Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi of Likud.
Winter’s Amcha Yisrael party is also polling below the 3.25% threshold, though it has at times been projected to win up to five seats.
Gantz, 67, served as military chief from 2011 to 2015 and entered politics in 2018. His Blue and White party won 35 seats in April 2019 and 33 in the next two elections before he joined Netanyahu in a 2020 unity government under a rotation deal that made him alternate prime minister.
The government collapsed before he could take over, making him the only person sworn in as Israeli prime minister who never held the post.
He served as defense minister and joined Netanyahu's war cabinet after Oct. 7, 2023, leaving in June 2024, as his decision now reshapes the final stretch of the race.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
3 min read
