The former soldier Benny Gantz has found himself serving under Binyamin Netanyahu three times. Each in the wake of a crisis. In 2011, after corruption scandals scuppered the appointments of two other generals, he was called out of early retirement to serve as the chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
Nine years later, in May 2020, after having run as a centrist challenger to Netanyahu in three elections that ended in stalemate, Gantz broke his promise not to join him in government. It was necessary, he explained to his supporters and allies, to join forces in confronting the Covid pandemic. He used one of his favourite images from military life — “it’s time to get under the stretcher” — meaning to carry the load for others, a selfless act of sacrifice for the national greater good
And now at 64 he is under the stretcher again, having joined yet another Netanyahu government immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7, to serve as a minister in the war cabinet. At a press conference he called a week ago, he used the term once again to describe his decision to join the Netanyahu government days after the war began.
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It’s important for him to present it as a difficult task, rather than him seizing the opportunity to go from leading a small opposition party to joining the most important decision-making forum in the government. Especially as his rival, the official leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, refused to join the war cabinet because of the far-right parties in Netanyahu’s coalition.
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Seven and a half months after Gantz joined the war cabinet, he is now threatening to leave. In the press conference he spoke emotionally of how “a minority has commandeered the bridge of the Israeli ship and is now steering it to the rocks”. He gave Netanyahu three weeks to present to the cabinet and the Israeli people a clear strategy on pursuing the war against Hamas in Gaza — prioritising the release of the 128 hostages still held by Hamas, working on an internationally backed administration to take charge of civilian affairs in Gaza and joining the US-Saudi regional alliance.
Gantz’s challenge to Netanyahu made headlines around the world but behind the scenes his detractors were quick to note that he had spoken out only after the defence minister Yoav Gallant had held his own press conference criticising Netanyahu three days earlier. Both senior ministers had spoken out after a week during which generals had been anonymously briefing against the prime minister that his refusal to present a clear war strategy was “squandering the tactical gains” of the Israeli army on the ground in Gaza.
“Benny is too much in love with the idea of carrying the stretcher,” says one minister who is in favour of Gantz leaving. “He should remember, however, that in the army, the foot soldiers carry the stretcher, while the commander goes ahead and leads the way. You can’t do both. Either he decides he’s prepared to leave or continues under the stretcher following Netanyahu.”
A week has gone by since he delivered his ultimatum. If Netanyahu doesn’t accept his demands, and so far he has responded dismissively, Gantz has promised to resign on June 8. If he follows through on that threat, it won’t be enough to topple the government. Netanyahu will still have his majority of 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset. But Gantz’s departure, leaving Netanyahu without centrists in his coalition, could unleash a much larger wave of angry protests against the government. “There are a lot of people, especially reservists who have returned from the front lines, who are not yet capable of protesting at a time of war,” says an aide to Gantz. “But when Benny decides to leave the government, that will open up the floodgates and hundreds of thousands will take to the streets.”
Polls suggest that if an election were to take place now, Gantz’s National Unity party would receive the most votes and could easily form a ruling coalition.
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That would not necessarily mean an abrupt change in national policy. Like Netanyahu he believes that the IDF should have the freedom to operate in Gaza when and wherever necessary against the remaining Hamas strongholds. He is not ready to talk about an independent Palestinian state, but will talk about a “separate Palestinian entity”. He is also keener than the current prime minister to work in partnership with the Americans, Europeans and pro-western Arab states to form a local administration in Gaza which would take charge first of civil and humanitarian issues and then gradually of security.
In the last few months Gantz has worked hard to present himself as the representative of the nation and the soldiers. He has even moved from his home near Tel Aviv to one of the kibbutzim near the Gaza border. The move to the kibbutz however had at least one unintended consequence. Three weeks ago, when riding a mountain bike on one of the trails in the fields, he fell and broke his foot. Now he prefers not being seen in public too much so he can avoid headlines of “Gantz limping”.
The son of Holocaust survivors, Gantz only entered politics in 2018. During his long military career he was notably brave and led some of the most elite IDF units, the Shaldag airborne commando unit and the Paratroopers Brigade, as well as commanding IDF forces in Lebanon, the West Bank and the entire northern region. These experiences should have prepared him for the tough decisions he now faces. But not all his former military contemporaries think they did.
“Benny was an exemplary commander in the field. Unflappable under enemy fire,” recalls a former IDF general who served with him. “But a commander, especially at the higher ranks, needs to be able to make other types of decisions away from the battlefield. The kind of decision where you have to disappoint people serving under you and challenge those above you. He hates doing that and would often try and delay making a call. As an officer he was also most comfortable when those outranking him made the decisions, and that’s still his preferred position to this day. He doesn’t agree with Netanyahu on most things but he’s too used to saluting him and getting on with things. It’s hard for him to break that habit.”
Gantz’s non-confrontational manner and reluctance to make tough calls earned him the ironic nickname “Benichuta” — a Hebrew word (derived originally from Aramaic) which can affectionately mean laid-back and less affectionately mean indecisive.
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“Gantz is a decent man and a patriot,” says a rival politician. “But he’s not an ideologue. He’s worked very hard to maintain the image of a centrist, but it basically means he’s always trying to be in the middle, not angering anyone. Right now that works for him in the polls, because Israelis are yearning for unity at a time of war, but it means he’s trying to please everyone and you can’t do that for ever. But Gantz is addicted to the warm feeling of being the unifying figure, especially when it’s backed up by polling.”
Since the war began, Netanyahu has plummeted in the polls while Gantz has overtaken him. “The public is pleased that he’s joined the war cabinet rather than attacking the government from the sidelines like Yair Lapid,” says a member of Gantz’s team. “But he knows he will have to leave cabinet at some point and that point is near.”
Each time Gantz served under Netanyahu, it ended in acrimony. He completed his four years as chief of staff but behind the scenes there were significant differences of opinion as Gantz along with the other security chiefs opposed Netanyahu’s plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and urged him to act more decisively against Hamas in Gaza. His experience of working under Netanyahu was one of his main motives for going into politics and challenging him for the premiership. Their eventual partnership in the Covid emergency coalition lasted barely six months when Netanyahu broke one of his key commitments to pass a state budget. Now yet another break-up is looming over the war’s mismanagement. But is it inevitable?
“It’s easy to mock Benny for being indecisive and delaying the decision to leave the government,” says one of his party’s Knesset members. “But put yourself in his shoes. It’s an impossible dilemma. On the one hand he’s stuck in the worst government in Israeli history and can’t continue supporting it. On the other, if he leaves the government, it becomes even worse, perhaps much worse. How can you make that decision at a time of war?”
