Breaking right. That’s the direction the Blue and White party has chosen for itself in the 2020 election. The purpose of this move is absolutely clear. It wants to attract right-wing voters, with an emphasis on the soft right. This means voters who don’t want a prime minister under indictment, who will end up spending his mornings in court and his evenings meeting with his Cabinet and security Cabinet. The problem is that Blue and White party Chairman Benny Gantz made a sharp and dangerous turn toward voters aligned with HaBayit HaYehudi and the National Union. It is like he is running against Yamina senior Bezalel Smotrich and not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gantz announced Jan. 8 that releasing the “deal of the century” right before the March 2 election would be, “callous and genuine intervention in the process.” But then Jan. 21 came around, and he sounded different. During a tour of the Jordan Valley, Gantz said that the Blue and White party would take steps to annex the Jordan Valley after the election. Referring to the “deal of the century,” he said, “I hope the president will move up [the rollout] and I expect the plan will be released very soon.” In doing all this, Gantz shifted the issue of imposing Israeli law and annexing the Jordan Valley to the top of the agenda, and he did it on the same day that the Arrangements Committee released the dates for the Knesset Committee to debate Netanyahu’s request for immunity.

Without even noticing it, Gantz scored a goal on his own net — perhaps even two goals — with a single kick. He made a first-rate strategic error when he dropped the issue of immunity. It already featured on the political and media agenda for the past few weeks, and Netanyahu and the Likud had no adequate response to it. What did Gantz do? He talked about annexing the Jordan Valley instead, as if he wanted to prove to voters on the right that he speaks fluent “right-wing talk,” too. What he really ended up doing, however, was move himself willingly into Netanyahu’s home field. Immunity is out; annexation of the Jordan Valley is in. Gantz’s statement about annexation landed on Netanyahu like a gift from heaven. He was quick to pose a challenge to Gantz, tweeting: “Why wait until after elections, if it’s possible to impose sovereignty on the Jordan Valley right now, with broad agreement in the Knesset? Benny Gantz, I expect your answer this evening, unless of course Ahmad Tibi [Arab Joint List party senior] hands you a veto.”

Strategic consultant Lior Horev told Al-Monitor, “The public has very little faith in the statements and promises of politicians. Very few people believe Netanyahu’s statement that he would annex the Jordan Valley, just as they don’t believe statements about doubling the number of hospital beds and other such promises made by politicians on the eve of an election. Benny Gantz fell right into the classic left-right trap.”