How Netanyahu outsmarted his former IDF chief - analysis

Why after Gantz's indecisiveness, future alternatives to Netanyahu will have an even greater challenge.

By GIL HOFFMAN
sraeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz wears a protective face mask as he arrives to attend a vote on the approval of the normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem October 15, 2020. (photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
sraeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz wears a protective face mask as he arrives to attend a vote on the approval of the normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem October 15, 2020.
(photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
The ultimate tragedy for Defense Minister Benny Gantz could be that he achieved his goal of becoming prime minister, and he was not even aware of it until it was over.
Gantz ran for prime minister three times and failed to form a government twice. He then worked out a deal to be prime minister 18 months after the current government’s formation, foolishly expecting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to honor it.
When Netanyahu started making deals with Muslim countries without telling him, Gantz not only did not put his foot down. He even admitted publicly that it didn’t bother him, inviting Netanyahu to do it again and again. Netanyahu did not invite him to Washington for the signing of deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, when Gantz technically held the acting prime minister title while he was abroad.
On Sunday, Netanyahu broke the law when he went to Saudi Arabia without a formal cabinet decision to make Gantz the acting PM. Such decisions are required by law, to the point that the cabinet even had to vote to empower Gantz ahead of a short medical procedure Netanyahu underwent a few days before.
Netanyahu must have realized there was no point in telling Gantz he was prime minister, because he would not have known what to do in the post if he knew he had it. Gantz ended up looking ridiculous on TV that night criticizing Netanyahu over budget minutia when the prime minister was holding an unprecedented meeting on the soil of Saudi Arabia.  
When word came out that Netanyahu had left Gantz in the dark about the trip, a foreign correspondent asked if Gantz would leave the government immediately. She was shocked that a respected former general could be so weak and act like “Netanyahu’s dishrag.”
But this was just another in a long line of examples of Netanyahu outsmarting his former IDF chief of staff since the government was formed. Now Netanyahu is using Gantz to keep the government afloat until he can ensure a vaccine will be available for Israelis before they vote.
It is important to Netanyahu that the race be held when the coronavirus will not be a factor, because he sees Yamina leader Naftali Bennett as “a protest vote against corona,” whose political viability will die along with the virus. By the time the election is held, Netanyahu believes the headlines will be about US President Joe Biden returning to the Iran deal, which could help him win by a landslide.
It is not just the enemies from outside Israel who could help Netanyahu win a sixth term in office but also the lack of adversaries inside the country. Netanyahu sent his ally Yuval Steinitz 13 years ago to pass a law requiring a cooling off period for generals before they enter politics.
After Gantz, it will be hard for any IDF chief of staff to market himself to Israeli voters. That is bad news for Gadi Eizenkot, the latest chief of staff ready to enter the fray.
Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai believes he could present a serious challenge to Netanyahu as the Center-Left bloc’s candidate in the next election, especially if he has Eizenkot as his number two and someone like socioeconomically-minded Knesset Coronavirus Committee head Yifat Shasha-Biton high on the list.
The election of 78-year-old Joe Biden in the US gave hope to the 76-year-old Huldai. If he emerges as the alternative to Netanyahu in the election, Israel will follow America in holding a contest between two septuagenarians.
But while Huldai has a proven track record of success in his city and more management experience than other possible contenders, he also has a left-wing elitist image that would be a significant liability. It might be easier for Bennett to woo Netanyahu-haters on the Left than for Huldai to convert voters from the soft Right, but either task could be insurmountable.
The date of the election - likely to be March 16 or 23 - will be determined soon, depending on how long the debate over the 2021 state budget drags on. When Finance Minister Israel Katz made a new offer to Gantz on Wednesday, a source in his ministry admitted that “the intention was to drag him into a compromise, make him think we are helping him and then humiliate him.”
By pushing off the inevitable over and over again, Gantz proved that he does not need help humiliating himself.
No matter when the election will be held, Gantz is not expected to be a major factor. Due to his chronic indecisiveness, the hours he unwittingly served as acting prime minister on Monday are likely to be seen in retrospect as the closest he ever came to living in the Prime Minister’s Residence on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street.