Benny Gantz quits Israel's election race eight days before the vote

Benny Gantz, chairman of the Blue and White party and a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and former defence minister, announced on Monday that he will not stand in Israel's upcoming general election. Israel Hayom reported that he said in a statement he would keep working toward a national unity government, calling unity "the only solution" capable of preventing another disaster. The Jerusalem Post noted that the move came eight days before Israelis go to the polls on October 27.

Later the same day, Gantz confirmed the decision at a press conference at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan, a city bordering Tel Aviv, The Times of Israel reported. Ynet reported that he formally removed his candidacy for the 26th Knesset, Israel's parliament, and acknowledged that he had failed to persuade enough Israelis to back his approach. "The responsibility is mine," he said, according to several outlets.

A reversal within a week

According to Ynet, the announcement came a week after Gantz had declared he would run "to the end". Ynet described a period in which Gantz had been hesitating while his professional campaign team pressed him to stay in the race, and said a disagreement inside the party preceded the withdrawal.

In a separate analysis, Ynet reported that there were forces in the party pushing him to continue, and pointed to a financial dimension: Blue and White is entitled to election funding of 15 million shekels, part of which, Ynet said, had already been paid to advisers and pollsters. Ynet also quoted a member of Knesset who had urged the withdrawal as saying "the road does not end". The outlet characterised the move as the collapse of what it called the third bloc, a grouping positioned between the main political camps, and argued that the beneficiaries were neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Eisenkot. Ynet reported that Eisenkot thanked Gantz for what he called a responsible decision.

The appeal for a Zionist unity government

The core of Gantz's speech was a call for party leaders to form what he described as a Zionist unity government that cuts across the political blocs. In remarks posted by political commentator Amit Segal, Gantz said such a government was bigger than any person or party. Addressing leaders "as a citizen of the state", he urged them: "Do not take us back to October 6."

October 6 is the day before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that began the current war, a date many Israelis associate with deep domestic division. Gantz warned that without real change the country would keep tearing apart and could face repeat elections or, in his words, a disaster.

He also defended his decision to join a Netanyahu-led government after the massacre, according to Segal. Gantz said he was at peace with that choice, calling it the most important of his public life, and said he would do the same again without hesitation if required.

Why he left rather than stayed on the ballot

Responding to a question from Ynet, Gantz said he did not want anyone to put a Blue and White ballot into the box and see it produce no result. Israel elects its parliament through national party lists, and votes cast for a list that fails to win seats do not translate into representation.

Gantz declined to endorse another party. Asked by Channel 12 News who he would vote for, he said he had joined the ranks of the undecided, N12 reported, and advised each voter to think it through and choose whoever does not set the public against itself. Ynet's alerts channel quoted him saying, when pressed, that the state belongs to everyone.

Other lines from the speech carried by Ynet included his statement that he had never abandoned a battle and would not turn his back on the fight for unity, and that political reality had become a trap that deepens the rift in Israeli society.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives Blue and White's recent polling figures, and the Jerusalem Post passage on the party's standing is cut off in the material available. The reports do not say whether Gantz's name and party will still appear on printed ballots, what happens to the election funding already spent or still due, or what Blue and White's other candidates will do. Ynet's account of internal pressure and of who gains from the withdrawal is its own analysis and is not confirmed by the other outlets. Gantz did not say whether he intends to remain in political life after the election.