While Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid have the fanciest titles in the government, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar have the more symbolic title of deputy prime minister. But their influence cannot be underestimated.
Gantz would have become PM on November 17 had the previous government lasted. He has insisted on receiving independence and getting his way in disputes in the cabinet in return for his sacrifice.
Utilizing the eight seats Blue and White won against all odds in the March election, Gantz has taken full advantage of the leverage given to him by the Likud’s constant efforts to woo him since then.
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates leaked a trial balloon that he would offer Gantz to serve as prime minister for four years, while he would suffice with the alternate or deputy prime minister title.
The obviously bitter Gantz has made a point of not ruling out accepting such an offer, which has increased his political power in the current government. The defense budget has gone up, and he has tried to obtain hefty pensions for high-ranking retired IDF officers.
His job in the years ahead will be to build up the army for the challenges of the future, as a potential nuclear Iran remains a potential existential threat and Lebanon, Syria and Gaza are increasingly unstable. The future of the West Bank also remains up in the air, as 85-year-old Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas advances in age with no successor on the horizon.
Sa’ar has also made his share of sacrifices. He left the Likud in order to bring down Netanyahu, and even though New Hope won only six seats, he succeeded. A sharp political operator, he was one of the behind-the-scenes architects of the current government, and persuaded Bennett not to join forces with Netanyahu again.
Now Sa’ar wants to prevent a Netanyahu comeback by passing term limits, and preventing a candidate under indictment from forming a government.
Sa’ar also has plans in the Knesset’s winter session for reforming the legal establishment.
The bill, which is currently being drafted, would include the rights of citizens in court and under arrest, the right to a fair legal process, the requirement of a warning, and the status of being considered innocent until guilt has been proven.
Sa’ar will also leave his mark by appointing a new attorney-general, splitting that powerful role and heading the judicial selection committee that is set to choose six new Supreme Court judges over the next four years and dozens of lower-level judges.
Recognizing the threat from Sa’ar, the Likud secretariat passed a proposal prohibiting the return of him and his New Hope colleagues to Likud, where he was once Netanyahu’s No. 2.
Meanwhile, Sa’ar will use the power he has to cause as many headaches as possible for Netanyahu and his other former colleagues in Likud.