Benny Gantz

Born on June 9, 1959, in Kfar Ahim, Benny Gantz enlisted in the IDF in 1977. His military career spans Operation Litani, the First Lebanon War, the Second Intifada, the 2006 Lebanon War, and Operations Cast Lead and Pillar of Defense; he commanded the Paratroopers Brigade and then Northern Command before becoming the 20th IDF Chief of Staff from February 14, 2011, to February 15, 2015, a position he held during Operation Protective Edge (2014).

He entered politics by founding the Israel Resilience party (December 2018), which merged with Yesh Atid and Telem to form Kahol Lavan (Blue and White, February 2019). After Yesh Atid's departure in 2020, Gantz retained the Kahol Lavan name; in August 2022, the party merged with Gideon Saar's party, with Gadi Eisenkot joining, and was then renamed National Unity ahead of the November 2022 election. Minister of Defense from May 17, 2020, to January 1, 2023 (the date of the handover ceremony to Yoav Gallant), he oversaw Operation Guardian of the Walls (May 2021).

After October 7, 2023, he joined the small war cabinet as a minister without portfolio (October 12, 2023). Public tensions with Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant emerged in early 2024 over war strategy and negotiations for the release of the hostages. On May 18, 2024, he issued an ultimatum, demanding a plan for postwar Gaza before June 8 or he would leave the government. He ultimately resigned from the war cabinet on June 9, 2024, stating that Netanyahu “is preventing us from advancing toward a real victory,” and called for early elections; the war cabinet was dissolved shortly afterward.

In July 2025, Gadi Eisenkot and Matan Kahana resigned from the Knesset, prompting the party to revert to the name Kahol Lavan (Blue and White); in September 2025, Eisenkot founded his own party, Yashar. That same year, Gantz repeatedly clashed with the coalition over the Haredi conscription bill, which he described as a “failure of values,” and threatened to leave the coalition if it passed.

Ahead of the October 27, 2026 election, Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) is polling very low (around 2% in September 2026, below the 3.25% threshold). Merger talks with Gilad Erdan (Unity) and Ayelet Shaked failed in early September 2026: both withdrew from the race. Gantz is therefore running alone. He initially indicated that he might suspend his campaign in the final week before the vote if he remained below the threshold, then declared on October 10, 2026, that he was staying in the race “until the end” and belonged to no bloc. On September 26, 2026, he stayed away from the meeting at Yair Lapid's home between Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, and Avigdor Liberman, where the five leaders pledged not to attack one another until the formation of the government, and publicly criticized the initiative (details in “Controversies”).