When retired army general Benny Gantz meets Western ministers visiting Israel, he rarely gives them anything behind closed doors other than the platitudes he publicly voices to the press. These visitors are looking for a political opponent in him. All they find is a minister in the war cabinet, directing operations in Gaza. They dream of an alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu and come up against a simple guardrail.
The silent Gantz, a former chief of the General Staff with a tall stature and steely blue eyes, is presented by those close to him as the "adult in the room" within the government. His even temperament and straightforward, slightly stiff manner are reassuring. The former paratrooper is popular: He is far ahead of the prime minister in the polls.
Chuck Schumer, Democratic majority leader of the United States Senate, had Gantz in mind when, on March 14, he called for Israelis to return to the polls to oust the far right and Netanyahu from power. Gantz embodies the Israel that the senator has loved and defended all his career, in the face of these supremacist, openly genocidal ministers, threatening – in his view – to turn Israel into a "pariah."
In early March, Gantz defied Netanyahu by traveling to Washington without asking his permission. He left from the White House dismayed by the force of the US administration's criticism. His entourage told the media outlet Axios that Israel was "in deep shit" when faced with this ally urging it to stop starving Gazan civilians.
However, Israelis do not want elections as long as the war continues. Opinion polls consistently indicate this, despite successive demonstrations on this issue for several weeks. Netanyahu is making himself a bulwark against American "pressure," promising that he will continue military operations in Gaza "until total victory." Head of the small centrist Israel Resilience Party party, Gantz has only the word "unity" on his lips. "We're looking for reasons to stay in government, but it's difficult," said an aide.
What would Gantz do with the top job? Protestors outside his home near Tel Aviv, calling for him to resign in late February, reported this response from him: "Let's say I became prime minister tomorrow. What would I do? I'd do the same thing. Free the hostages [captured by Hamas during the October 7 attack] and keep fighting."
In the army, Gantz is remembered as an officer who raised his voice very little, who led by consensus and example and who respected orders. Destined for the General Staff early on, he only took the helm in 2011 following a falling out between his superiors and a series of scandals that disqualified more zealous rivals.
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