https://arab.news/cfwu2
- Gantz makes election issue of Netanyahu indictment
- Netanyahu accuses ex-general of weakness
JERUSALEM: Former military chief Benny Gantz portrays himself as a straight-shooter who will restore simple values to Israel if he wins power in the country鈥檚 third election in less than a year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the man Gantz wants to oust in Monday鈥檚 election, once praised him as 鈥渁n officer and a gentleman鈥� when his government appointed him Chief of Staff of the armed forces eight years ago.
The tone is very different now.
Gantz, who leads the centrist Blue and White party, has been attacking Netanyahu鈥檚 character, mainly over corruption charges facing Israel鈥檚 longest-serving leader, and the prime minister鈥檚 right-wing Likud party has branded Gantz a weak leftist.
Netanyahu鈥檚 trial is set to begin on March 17, just two weeks after the election. Netanyahu, who at 70 is a decade older than Gantz, denies any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a witch-hunt.
鈥淭he man charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust has nothing to sell other than disseminated lies and slung mud,鈥� Gantz tweeted about Netanyahu a week before the election. 鈥淚srael needs a full-time prime minister.鈥�
But while Blue and White has talked up Gantz鈥檚 military background, Likud has sought to portray their opponent as soft on Iran and too conciliatory toward the Palestinians.
Gayil Talshir, a Hebrew University political scientist, said Israel still appeared to be split, reflecting the inconclusive outcome of elections in April and September last year in which neither party could form a ruling coalition.
Blue and White led Likud in opinion polls for weeks during this campaign but recent surveys have shown Likud pulling slightly ahead.
鈥淭he trial is super-important... the center and left in Israel is going against Netanyahu,鈥� Talshir said. 鈥淏ut his (Netanyahu鈥檚) own base is rallying around Netanyahu.鈥�
鈥橮ROPER CONDUCT鈥�
Tall and athletic, with a fondness for folk singing and motorcycle riding, Gantz was a consensus figure for Israelis when chief of the conscript military between 2011 and 2015.
But what he would do in power is not entirely clear, as he has sent mixed messages.
He casts himself as more diplomatically accommodating than Netanyahu, urging redoubled efforts to restart peace talks.
But while Palestinians may prefer Gantz to Netanyahu, there is little fondness for him after two wars in the Gaza Strip, a self-governing Palestinian enclave, while Gantz was in charge of the Israeli military. About 2,300 Palestinians were killed in the fighting.
He has also publicly embraced US President Donald Trump鈥檚 Middle East plan, which was rejected outright by the Palestinians for what they see as pro-Israel bias.
While Netanyahu holds rallies around the country exhorting his right-wing supporters to turn out, Gantz鈥檚 party believes some may be persuaded to peel away by a cross-partisan appeal to 鈥減roper conduct.鈥� 鈥淥ur polls indicate that a considerable number of Likud supporters are unhappy with the situation and are wavering,鈥� Yoaz Hendel, one of the party鈥檚 lawmakers, told Reuters. 鈥淭hey are part of our focus.鈥�
Gantz鈥檚 鈥淢r Clean鈥� image took a knock last week when police announced an investigation into the conduct of a now-defunct security consultancy that he chaired after he left the military.
Gantz is not a suspect in the case, but Netanyahu seized on it to try to undermine his less experienced opponent.
Gantz has also made occasional stumbles in campaign interviews, getting an interviewer鈥檚 name wrong and stammering slightly while collecting his thoughts.
Netanyahu has used these stumbles as ammunition to accuse Gantz as lacking the capacity for quick thinking.
鈥淪o I don鈥檛 speak like you. Big deal,鈥� Gantz responded brusquely during a televised speech on Wednesday. 鈥淲hile you were taking acting classes in New York, I was defending this country.鈥�