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The rivalry dividing Israel’s government

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's election at the party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel March 3, 2020.

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's election at the party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel March 3, 2020.

REUTERS/Corinna Kern/
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksMarch 04, 2024
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
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On Monday, Israeli senior government official Benny Gantz met in Washington with Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and lawmakers of both parties. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not happy about it.

Though Gantz now serves in Netanyahu’s coalition government, the two are longtime political rivals, and wartime policy differences have added new strains to their relationship. Gantz has publicly criticized Netanyahu’s conduct of the war, and the prime minister reportedly ordered the Israeli embassy not to participate in Gantz’s Washington meetings. Some of Netanyahu’s allies have publicly accused Gantz of undermining the war effort itself.

Gantz is a lead candidate to replace Netanyahu as PM in the coming months, and there are differences between the two men worth noting. Gantz would have a better relationship with Washington, any Israeli PM’s most important foreign ally. The Biden administration appears increasingly fed up with Netanyahu’s inability to bring the war to a swift end and his unwillingness to allow more humanitarian help for Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire.

But their largest difference is not about the need to destroy Hamas. It’s about who has the credibility to achieve that goal and lead Israel into the future. In short, a Gantz government probably wouldn’t offer a major shift in wartime strategy.

bibi netanyahubenny gantzmiddle-eastisrael

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