Gallant criticizes Gantz: He is silent because he has nothing to say

“Benny Gantz is silent,” Gallant said. “I think that he knows why he is silent. I also know why he is silent, and the thousands of officers who served under him know why he is silent."

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: JANUARY 7, 2019 08:30
Yoav Galant (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Yoav Galant
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Israel Resilience Party (Hosen L’Yisrael) leader and former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz has nothing to say, Immigration Absorption Minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday.
“Benny Gantz is silent,” Gallant said. “I think that he knows why he is silent. I also know why he is silent, and the thousands of officers who served under him know why he is silent.”
“When you have nothing to say, you don’t speak,” Gallant added.
Asked about the possibility that Gantz will run with another former IDF chief of staff, Moshe Ya’alon, Gallant said: “It’s a partnership between one who doesn’t have any opinions and one who doesn’t have any votes.”
Gantz has not made any statements on politics in recent months, but has still come in second place as most suitable to be prime minister in several surveys, including last week’s Jerusalem Post poll, which gave him 14% behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 39%. His party also came in second place, with 14 seats, trailing behind the Likud with 30.
Gantz became chief of staff in 2011 after Gallant, who was Netanyahu’s first choice, was disqualified due to High Court petitions relating to questions about how he came to own some of the land on which his home was built. Gallant left the Kulanu party last week and is expected to join Likud.
Israel Resilience Party responded: “The Israeli people need a different discourse, statesmanship and leadership.”
The party’s goals, according to its registration documents, are “to continue to establish and strengthen the State of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic country in light of the Zionist vision, as is expressed in the Declaration of Independence, while determining and changing the national priorities regarding the following topics: education, national infrastructure development, agriculture, law, homeland security, welfare, peace, and security.”
Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich expressed hope that Gantz’s party will merge with Labor: “I want to connect with Gantz’s party and for good people to join Labor, to strengthen us, but that will only be possible if we stop... dealing with internal matters. Unity and standing behind party chairman Avi Gabbay are very important,” she stated.
Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.

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