Announcement and reasons

Benny Gantz, a former defence minister who led the centrist Blue and White alliance, said on Monday, 19 October, that he would not stand in the legislative election set for 27 October. He made the announcement in a short statement sent to Israeli media and said he would keep working for unity from outside the race. He described unity as the only option that could prevent another disaster and protect Israel against threats both internal and external. Gantz had told reporters days earlier that he would take this step if his alliance failed to recover in the polls. No major poll had ever given the alliance the 3.25% of the vote needed to win seats in parliament, and estimates had put its support at about 1%. Several members had already left the party before the announcement.

A race narrowed to two parties

The campaign has become a contest between Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Yashar, led by former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot. A Kan poll reported by Il Fatto Quotidiano gave Yashar 23 seats and Likud 21. Poll averages cited by El Confidencial gave Yashar 22 seats. Neither party alone comes close to the 61 seats needed for a majority. The same Kan poll put Netanyahu's bloc at 51 seats and Eisenkot's bloc at 52, with the two Arab parties together winning 13 seats. According to Haaretz, Blue and White will still appear on the ballot unless the remaining candidates also withdraw in the coming days.

Yashar (Eisenkot)23

Likud (Netanyahu)21

Yashar (Eisenkot)

23 seats

Likud (Netanyahu)

21 seats

Data from the article text

Gantz's record

Blue and White won 35 seats in its first election in 2018, a result that El Confidencial said would now make it the most-voted party. It won only 12 seats in 2022. Gantz joined the emergency war cabinet formed after the attacks of 7 October 2023, and he was the only opposition leader to accept Netanyahu's request for a wartime unity government. He served first as defence minister and then, between 2023 and 2024, as a minister without portfolio. He resigned on 9 June 2024 over disagreements with Netanyahu about how the war was being conducted. Gantz and Eisenkot, who was then his party's second-ranking figure according to ORF, later left the government again over differences with Netanyahu, including over the future of the Gaza Strip.

2018 election35

2022 election12

2018 election

35 seats

2022 election

12 seats

Data from the article text

Unity government and security alert

Gantz again argued for a national unity government that would bring together large parties from both the pro- and anti-Netanyahu camps. Eisenkot rejects such a government. Polls indicate that the opposition, together with Arab parties, would hold a clear majority, but ORF reported that a coalition with Arab parties is seen as unlikely, although outside support could be agreed. Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that the Israeli Defense Forces have been placed on maximum alert. Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered soldiers' leave revoked from Thursday, 22 October, after assessing the military situation across several fronts with senior officers.