Gantz made a tough decision. Will he regret it?

The bloody war of attrition between the two Benjamins, Netanyahu and Gantz, lasted more than a year, pitting their respective parties, the Likud and Blue and White, representing the two halves of the Israeli electorate, against each other. Their all-out war, spanning three tense election campaigns, was waged on the streets and in homes, in halls and stadiums, in the political arena and cyberspace.

The war turned particularly nerve-racking after the March 2 elections for the 23rd Knesset. The pugilists were exhausted. Israel had already been drawn into the coronavirus crisis while Netanyahu and Gantz clinched on the ropes, praying for a bell to save them. At 3:30 pm on March 26, Gantz blinked first and agreed to a power-sharing government with Netanyahu. He decided to cut his losses and accept the best terms he could wring from him, obtaining a firm date to replace Netanyahu as prime minister: October 2021, just around the corner.

The problem now, however, is that no one has managed to turn this “corner” at which Netanyahu is supposed to cede the chair. The political corpses of the politicians who engaged Netanyahu in various agreements are strewn throughout the annals of recent Israeli history, among them Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), Tzipi Livni (Hatenua) and Isaac Herzog (Zionist Camp). Replacing Netanyahu is what Gantz wanted for starters, but he will wait 18 months in prayer, hoping against hope that he can thwart Netanyahu’s every attempt to scuttle their agreement.

Gantz’s decision was a tough one. He dismantled his baby, Blue and White, slammed the door in the faces of his partners Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya’alon, and disappointed millions of Israelis who had voted for his patchwork alliance in the hope of getting rid of Netanyahu. He has now taken a dangerous gamble, which will culminate in either a promotion or a demotion.