Are Netanyahu and Gantz really so different?

It would prove to be a difficult task to find essential differences between the leaders of the two largest parties in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud and Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz. This is due in part to Netanyahu adopting policies that are at times dramatically different from his pronouncements, especially some of those preceding elections, while Gantz, being new to politics, hardly has a record outside the military with which to compare. In campaigning, Gantz has used general and noncommittal language, and the statements he has made have to be treated as campaign promises. 

Netanyahu and Gantz are not so far apart in their views in several areas, one example being that the Golan Heights remain under Israeli sovereignty. There are, however, some differences in the positions the two leaders have presented and in Blue and White's platform and Likud’s stated policies. 

On the question of a Palestinian state

In the outgoing right-wing government, Netanyahu’s line was that there’s “no partner for peace” on the Palestinian side, and he almost severed contact with the Palestinian Authority (PA), except on ongoing security and economic issues. He holds the view of economy first, which is also the basis of President Donald Trump’s long-anticipated “deal of the century,” and follows this approach on the ground. Paradoxically, during Netanyah's tenure, the standard of living for Palestinian residents of the West Bank rose in contrast to the economic situation of the PA itself. After Trump’s election, Netanyahu became more extreme and renewed construction in the settlements, and during the campaign for the Sept. 17 elections, he promised to extend Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and settlements on the West Bank. He further promised that unlike in the past, Israel would not be vacating any settlements. As far as anyone knows, Trump’s peace plan runs along these lines, and if Netanyahu forms the next government, he’s likely to endorse it.