There is no guarantee that the political impasse will end any time soon as Israelis go to the polls on November 1 for the fifth general election in less than four years. Leaders are currently courting 6.7 million voters in an effort to break the political deadlock in their favour.

The Israeli political scene, which is mainly divided into pro- and anti-Bibi camps (Bibi is former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname), promises nothing more than a coalition government. Notably, after current Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli defence minister, Benny Gantz, is being regarded as a third potential candidate for the position.

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Who is Benny Gantz?

Former IDF commander and current Defence Minister Gantz entered politics in 2018 and established his Israel Resilience Party in preparation for the elections in March 2019. In order to create the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party in time for the elections, Gantz teamed up with Lapid in the same year. Gantz agreed to form a “national emergency government” with Netanyahu despite his pledge not to do so, which resulted in the dissolution of Blue and White (Kahol Lavan).

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After failing to pass a budget, the government was dissolved at the end of 2020, and the fourth election in less than two years was held on March 23, 2021. The collapse of Kahol Lavan was the most important story. Gantz lost support after winning 33 seats in the previous election when he broke a campaign promise not to serve in a government with Netanyahu. Members defected to other parties, and the party’s number two on the list, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, announced he would not run for re-election. 

At one point, it appeared that Kahol Lavon would lose all of his seats, but Gantz rallied support and won eight seats, finishing fourth. Netanyahu, who received 30 percent of the vote, was given the mandate to form a government. This time, Gantz refused to join a coalition with the prime minister, denying Netanyahu the opportunity to form a government. Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid was given a second chance to form a government, and Gantz joined him as Defense Minister. Gants and Gideon Sa’ar announced the merger of Kahol Lavan and New Hope in August 2022, as well as their intention to run together in the November election, with Gantz at the top of the ticket and Sa’ar second. HaMahane HaMamlachti was the name of their new party.