Blue and White leader Benny Gantz wrote to his party's candidates on Wednesday morning that he would not concede the race, despite results indicating that the Center-Right won the election.Gantz wrote that the results were not final and that there might still be "electoral movements that could enable us to carry out political maneuvers." He said the results should "not cover up the sun of hope that we gave the people and the society in Israel."Gantz vowed not to give up his promises to the public to bring about change. "The voters asked us to bring about hope and we gave it to them," he said. "They wanted a different path and we paved it."if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("656089") != -1){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";}else if(window.location.pathname.indexOf("/israel-news/") != -1){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}
Speaking to reporters outside his home in Rosh Ha'ayin on Wednesday, Gantz said: "It's a new morning, we're waking up to developing reports [of the election results].
"This is a great achievement. Never before has a party been formed that became so big in so little time. The people are talking about us. I came [to serve] for ten years; this is just the first morning."
"There's a lot more work to be done," he continued. "We've been surprised up to now, wait until the end of the day."The night before, Gantz spoke at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv after the election's exit polls were published, with Channel 12 placing his party at 37 Knesset seats, four more than the Likud.Gantz declared victory and vowed to form a government in the coming days. He quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the largest party is important. Based on that, Gantz said that Blue and White should form the next government.
“I will be the prime minister of everyone and we intend to unite everyone,” he said, noting that it was a historic day because more than one million people voted for him and his party.
“The road is very, very long; the moments of joy are many,” he said. “We will not make them too early, and we will especially remember the great responsibility that is placed upon us - responsibility to form a government that will serve the State of Israel and not itself.”
“We will do it with great love,” he continued, “and great devotion. All of Israel will be ‘Blue and White’ today.”
