Who Is Benny Gantz, Benjamin Netanyahu's Wartime Ally In Israel's Unity Government?

As Israel continued its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the country got a new wartime cabinet.

Israel opposition leader Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and political opponent of Netanyahu, joined a new wartime cabinet.

AFP

Why Israel has a wartime cabinet

Gantz, a centrist opposition leader, spoke live on Israeli television alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after forming a war cabinet focused entirely on the conflict.

"Our partnership is not political, it is a shared fate," said Gantz. "At this time we are all the soldiers of Israel."

This is the second time 64-year-old Gantz has joined hands with Netanyahu in recent years.

Who is Benny Gantz

Gantz who started his career with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) went on to become its 20th Chief of the General Staff in 2011.

WIKIMEDIA

How he nearly made another Pegasus

After his retirement in 2015, Gantz became the chairman of the Fifth Dimension, a computer security and law enforcement technology company, which specialized in tracking via smartphone spyware.

However, the firm failed to take off financially, and in 2018 there were reports that another Israeli cyber security company NSO Group, which is behind the infamous Pegasus spyware was in talks to acquire Fifth Dimension.

But this did not go through and in December 2018, after just three years of operations, the company went bankrupt.

What Gantz's political career looks like

Around the same time, Gantz announced the formation of a new political party - the Israel Resilience Party ("Hosen LeYisrael" in Hebrew), to contest the elections in April 2019.

REUTERS

For the 2019 elections, Gantz joined hands with some opposition parties to take on Netanyahu who had in 2011 made him the Chief of the General Staff.

In the elections in April, the alliance won 35 seats, the same as Netanyahu, who was invited by the President to form the government.

But since Netanyahu failed to form the government, he got the Knesset dissolved, resulting in new elections in September.

In the September election, Gantz's Blue and White won 33 seats, which was one more than Netanyahu.

REUTERS

Gantz also failed to form the government and Israel held yet another general election in March 2020. Once again there was no clear winners and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gantz and Netanyahu agreed to form a Unity government.

Under the deal, Netanyahu remained as prime minister, with Gantz serving as Alternate Prime Minister, and the two set to exchange roles in October of 2021.

Once again the alliance was short-lived and in the elections that followed Netanyahu failed to get a majority to form the government.

In the unity government that was formed, Gantz was the Defense Minister and became a Deputy Prime Minister, until it collapsed in 2022.

In the elections in November 2022, the alliance led by Netanyahu came back to power and Gantz became the opposition leader.

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