A popular former Israeli military chief jumped into the political fray Thursday, announcing he would run for office in the upcoming election and instantly presenting a challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lengthy rule.
Retired Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has been polling favorably in recent weeks, emerging as a fresh, exciting face in Israel's staid political landscape.
By officially registering his new Israel Resilience Party, Gantz shakes up a snap three-month election campaign that has been widely seen as Netanyahu's to lose.
Even before officially announcing his candidacy, several polls showed Gantz's hypothetical party winning 16 Knesset seats and coming in second only to Netanyahu's Likud, which is projected to retain its power and win 30 Knesset seats in the April 9 vote.
A second-place finish would position Gantz as either a top cabinet minister in a Netanyahu-led government or a high-profile opposition leader.
Gantz has yet to comment publicly on the new party. Though he has yet to present his party's political platform, he has stellar military credentials – a must in the security-centric Israel – and a squeaky-clean image to contrast Netanyahu's corruption-clouded reputation.
Although still short of the kind of widespread support likely needed to become prime minister, Gantz's candidacy captures a yearning in Israel for a viable alternative to emerge against the long-serving Netanyahu, who has been in office for nearly a decade and is seeking a fourth consecutive term.
Even with Netanyahu's legal woes, he remains popular in opinion polls, while Israel's established opposition remains splintered and unable to produce a viable challenger.
Like most retired defense officials, Gantz is believed to hold moderate positions toward the Palestinians, which would set him apart from Netanyahu, who has largely ignored the issue while focusing on Iran's influence in the region. But Gantz has been cagey about voicing his opinions, wary of alienating conservative voters crucial for a political turnaround.
Early opinion polls indicate that Gantz would siphon votes away from all the major parties and may not tip the scales against Netanyahu just yet.
"It's too early to tell, but he definitely strengthens the center-left camp," said Mina Tzemach, a leading Israeli pollster, whose most recent survey gave Gantz's new party as many as 16 seats in the 120-seat Parliament. "He projects security and integrity. And the fact that he looks good doesn't hurt either."
Gantz, 59, was a paratrooper who rose up the ranks to head special operations units and other various commands before serving as military attaché to the United States and ultimately becoming Israel's 20th military chief between 2011 and 2015. His term was marked by two wars with Hamas in Gaza and a covert air campaign in Syria against Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since leaving active service, Gantz has been aggressively courted by several Israeli political parties, but ultimately decided to go it alone for now as the leader of his own party.
Despite his impressive past, Gantz remains a political mystery, which explains part of his appeal in such a highly partisan climate.
"There seems to be about 20% of the public that is fed up with what's out there," said Reuven Hazan, a political science professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. "He appeals to those who don't want Netanyahu but can't bring themselves to vote for the others either. He's the flavor of this election."
Israel is no stranger to such would-be saviors. In the 2013 elections, former TV anchor Yair Lapid came out of nowhere with his centrist Yesh Atid party to capture 19 seats and become Israel's second-largest faction. In the last election, in 2015, Moshe Kahlon's economy-focused Kulanu became the unlikely kingmaker. Both, however, decided to join Netanyahu's coalition rather than oppose him. Both parties have lost some of their initial popularity after years inside the political arena.
The latest polls reflect the conflicted stance held by most Israelis, who do not necessarily want Netanyahu to continue on as prime minister but seeing no viable alternative candidate to replace him. To fully topple Netanyahu, Gantz will likely have to team up with a combination of Lapid, Kahlon, Zionist Union and others.
Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union), meanwhile, has called on the various candidates to "put their egos aside" and unite against Netanyahu.
