Probe of mole deepens Blue and White rift

Neither Lapid, nor MK Gabi Ashkenazi, were aware that vast sums of Blue and White’s coffers were being spent on the internal investigation.

By GIL HOFFMAN
An election poster of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv (photo credit: STEVE LINDE)
An election poster of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv
(photo credit: STEVE LINDE)
Revelations over the weekend that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz had hired a company specializing in “espionage in business” to find moles leaking from the party increased tensions in the party.
Blue and White is made up of Gantz’s Israel Resilience, MK Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and MK Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem parties. The three parties had already been fighting over Blue and White’s attitude toward the ultra-Orthodox before tension over the private investigator deepened the rift.
CGI, the company Gantz hired, is headed by former Yesh Atid minister Yaakov Peri, who left the Knesset on bad terms with Lapid. The investigators have reportedly already found Yesh Atid figures involved in the leaks by planting work plans and seeing them leaked to the press.
Yesh Atid officials were furious about the charges. They denied any involvement in the leaks of Gantz’s closed conversations and speeches, most of which occurred before their parties united.
Neither Lapid nor MK Gabi Ashkenazi were aware that vast sums of Blue and White’s coffers were being spent on the internal investigation. Yesh Atid officials said they learned about it from the media.
Despite the outrage, Gantz intends to complete the probe and report on its results.