“From my experience, those who say they are not in the Right or the Left are in the Left,” Netanyahu said.
By GIL HOFFMANFormer IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz(photo credit: THE 5TH DIMENSION)
Former IDF chief of staff and Hosen L’Israel (Israel Resilience) Party leader Benny Gantz admitted that his views are all over the political map, in a recent interview with the Yom Leyom newspaper that was revealed Monday on the News Channel.Gantz said he could be right-wing on security issues, left-wing on socioeconomic issues and liberal on economic goals.“Right and Left are concepts that have to be reconsidered in Israeli society,” Gantz said.He also said he could handle many senior posts in government well, not just minister of defense, and that he is “seasoned, professionally able, and ready to learn.”Gantz dodged a question of politics Monday, when he attended the funeral of author Amos Oz.“Isn’t this a symbolic crowd, people from left and right here?” a reporter from I24 News asked Gantz about the crowd attending the funeral, noting that people from across the political spectrum were attending.“This is Israel, Left or Right. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about Israel,” Gantz replied.At the funeral, Gantz greeted former Likud Justice Minister Dan Meridor, who has been rumored to be on the Knesset list of his party. When they saw they were being filmed, they parted ways, because Meridor said their embrace would be interpreted as a political statement.Gantz has been careful not to make any political statements in the months ahead of him entering politics and since he registered his party on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Gantz at a press conference in Brazil on Monday.“From my experience, those who say they are not in the Right or the Left are in the Left,” Netanyahu said. “Like with Yair Lapid, everyone knows where the weight of his party is, so he should admit it. But those who say that ‘aren’t that or that; are usually on the Left.”
