Benny Gantz, calling for unity, predicts political '180' after elections

“I call on the prime minister, and I take on myself the responsibility not just to recognize the Golan Heights, but to also look at what is going on within the country,” he said.

By AVRAHAM GOLD
Benny Gantz, chairman of the Blue and White party, at the Western Wall, March 28th, 2019 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Benny Gantz, chairman of the Blue and White party, at the Western Wall, March 28th, 2019
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
“We have enough troubles outside [the country] and we need unity within [Israel]” Blue and White co-leader Benny Gantz said at a campaign event in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, calling for all citizens to flock to his banner.
“I call on the prime minister, and I take on myself the responsibility not just to recognize the Golan Heights, but to also look at what is going on within the country,” he said.
“We will not give up on the army, we will not give up on responsibility,” he said.
He said Blue and White would create a political “180” after the elections from the country’s direction, as both he and Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon have “hundreds of years” of experience.
Earlier in the day, the ex-IDF chief visited the Western Wall, where he placed a note in the ancient stones. Gantz’s bodyguard, who had been assigned earlier that day, was visible over his shoulder as he took selfies with supporters before the town hall and earlier  as he visited the Old City.
As supporters- decked in Blue and White shirts- waited for Gantz at the town hall, popular Israeli music, both past and present from A-ba-ni-bi to Eden Ben Zaken, played over loudspeakers.
He also touched on the escalation of violence in Israel’s south, recounting how a kindergarten teacher told him on a recent visit how she coped with the stresses. “Nobody can call them crybabies,” he said.
MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) preceded Gantz, noting the crowd was so large “we could have moved to Binyanei Hauma.”
Levy recounted past Knesset laws in the fields of education and security, including the haredi draft law, which were “cancelled by Netanyahu.”
Levi said any government official charged with corruption would not be allowed to return to government after Blue and White win in the elections.
Levi, a Jerusalemite, said terror will not win over the city and said the city would never be divided. 
Meirav Cohen, another Blue and White candidate from Jerusalem, spoke of the magical qualities of the city and criticized government ministers who chose to work in Tel Aviv, and not the nation’s capital.
A poll taken by Channel 13 earlier in the day found Gantz neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s Likud Party, locked at 30 seats.