BICOM

Naftali Bennett, the leader of the New Right Party, criticised former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz yesterday claiming he never sought victory in his military campaigns.

In an interview with Ynet, Bennett said: “I have nothing against Gantz on a personal level, but I was in the Security Cabinet during Operation Protective Edge, and he encapsulates a worldview that favours a tie. Not seeking victory, just to come out in one piece from every campaign.” Gantz’s campaign team said in response: “After Gantz’s stint (leading the Israel Defence Forces), there followed three and a half years of deterrence and quiet.”

Bennett said he set up a new party to ‘save the right-wing bloc’. He added: “Before we carried out this right-wing ‘big bang,’ the bloc had 57 seats in the Knesset. Right now we’re (polling) at 62-63.” Bennet said he was aiming for 15 seats and that he and New Right party co-leader Ayelet Shaked hope to become Defence Minister and Justice Minister in the next Government. Asked about the Attorney General’s imminent decision whether or not to indict Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett said:  “We in the New Right party will wait until after the attorney general’s decision and after the hearing, and only then will we convene and make a decision.”

Gantz will deliver the first speech of his election campaign on Tuesday evening. In an acknowledgement that he has been keeping a low profile so far, Gantz’s Israel Resilience party published adverts for the speech on social media that said: “Gantz speaks.”

BICOM is today publishing the first of a series of Israeli election updates presenting the latest aggregate polling data for the 9 April election.