Elections 2026
Gantz Hits Back at Opposition: "Where Did I Sign With You?"
Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party face increasing calls to withdraw from next year's elections. In recordings from a house forum attained by Channel 12, Gantz rejected his detractors and questioned whether he's even part of the Opposition.
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz pushed back sharply this week against growing calls from within the opposition for him to step aside, questioning the assumption that he belongs to any defined political bloc and insisting he answers only to the State of Israel.
In exclusive recordings aired Wednesday on Channel 12’s flagship newscast, Gantz was heard speaking at a private gathering in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut alongside MK Chili Tropper. Addressing criticism over his party’s continued failure to cross the electoral threshold in recent polls, Gantz rejected demands that he retire from political life.
“Who said I’m even in your bloc?” Gantz said. “Where did I sign that I’m with you? I’m for the State of Israel.” He added that in the past, similar pressure had proven misguided. “The last time 150 officers wrote to me telling me to quit, I finished with twice the number of seats the polls predicted,” he said.
While distancing himself from opposition infighting, Gantz reiterated his view that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should leave office. “I’m doing everything so that Netanyahu ends his term,” he said. “I think he needs to finish for a million reasons. One hundred percent.” At the same time, Gantz stressed that removing Netanyahu should not come at any cost.
Gantz voiced strong opposition to forming another narrow coalition, saying he would not support a government based on a razor-thin parliamentary majority. “I’m not willing to settle for 61 seats,” he said, recounting a recent conversation with another party leader about passing a constitution with such a slim margin. According to Channel 12, the unnamed politician was Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
Gantz warned that a narrow government would deepen social unrest. “We protested when they had 64 seats and shut down the country,” he said. “You want to pass a constitution with 61? That’s not reasonable.”
His remarks come amid mounting pressure from fellow opposition figures. Former party ally Gadi Eisenkot and former general Noam Tibon have both publicly argued that if Gantz continues to hover around the threshold, he should withdraw to avoid jeopardizing the chances of forming a new government.
Blue and White responded by reiterating its long-standing position that Israel needs a broad, consensus-based Zionist government without extremist factions, signaling that Gantz has no intention of stepping aside despite the criticism.