Gantz, Ya’alon said to be floating idea of a ‘generals party’
Gantz has been considering many political options and appears to be leaning toward forming a “party of generals” that can attract Israelis who vote on security.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: DECEMBER 27, 2018 00:42Former IDF chief-of-staff Benny Gantz, December 26th, 2018(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Former IDF chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and Moshe Ya’alon have reached an understanding about taking the parties they are forming and running together, political sources said on Wednesday.Gantz has been considering many political options and appears to be leaning toward forming a “party of generals” that can attract Israelis who vote on security, rather than running with Yesh Atid or the Zionist Union.Representatives for Gantz and Ya’alon would neither confirm nor deny the report. When receiving praise for the idea, both responded with positive affirmation.A source who spoke personally to Gantz this week called him “extremely indecisive,” and said “he doesn’t know what he is doing.”Ya’alon’s associates said his party would have a variety of candidates, not just generals. Among the candidates said to be running with Gantz include former Yeroham mayor Michael Biton and social activist Chili Tropper.Tropper, the son of immigrants from New York and Los Angeles, founded the Shachen Tov (Good Neighbor) Association and Bema’aglei Tzedek, an organization that merges social activism with education.A spokeswoman for Sheba Medical Center director-general Yitshak Kreiss denied a report that he would also be on Gantz’s list.There are MKs who have expressed interest in running on Gantz’s list. A group of five Zionist Union MKs who met Wednesday morning were reported to have expressed interest in breaking off from the party. Eight MKs would be needed for such a split.MKs Yossi Yonah, Miki Rosenthal, Eitan Cabel, Nachman Shai and Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin participated in the meeting. But Cabel, Shai and Nahmias-Verbin denied that they want to leave Labor and refuted reports that they are interested in joining Meretz.Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg said it is true that there are Zionist Union MKs who want to join her party. But Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay said he is sure the reports are false.
Gabbay met Wednesday with his Zionist Union colleague, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, to clear the air, after a statement she made about the need to set egos aside to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seen as an attack on Gabbay.“She is always working to weaken and topple Gabbay,” a source close to the Zionist Union leader said Wednesday morning. “If she continues behaving this way, she can already find herself another political home for the next election.”But after the two met and Livni told him the quote was referring to Gantz, they agreed to move on and work together. The Zionist Union, which won 24 seats in the 2015 election, is hovering about 10 seats under Gabbay.“Two-thirds of our faction have their gravestones written, and we all know it,” a Zionist Union MK said.
