Benny Gantz is an Israeli politician and former military commander born in 1959 and popular in Israel. He rose through military positions until he served as defense minister in two coalition governments and served as deputy prime minister and alternative prime minister in the national emergency government formed by Benjamin Netanyahu in April 2020.
In October 2023, Gantz joined the "Security Council" that emerged from the emergency government formed to manage the war on Gaza, following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was launched on the seventh of the same month by the Palestinian resistance led by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in response to the Israeli occupation army's continuous attacks against the Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites.
Birth and upbringing
Benjamin "Benny" Gantz was born on June 9, 1959, in Kafr Ahim, located in the coastal plains of occupied Palestine, 40 kilometers west of Jerusalem.
His father, Nahum Gantz, is originally from Romania and was arrested by the British for trying to enter Palestine illegally, while his mother, Malka, is of Hungarian descent.
Benny grew up in Kafr Ahim, an agricultural cooperative founded by Jewish immigrants in central Israel, and his parents were part of the group that founded the settlement.
He married Rivital, director of Nitzan's Parent Training Center, and they have four children, Nadaf, Nir, Noga and Naoum, and lives in Rosh Ha'ayin.
He is a conservative and consensual personality, is widely respected in local circles and is described by the Israeli press as "centrist."
Benny Gantz served as Israeli Defense Minister (Anatolia)
Study and scientific training
Gantz studied at the local Shafer High School in Shapira Center, then attended a boarding school in a youth village called Hakfar Hirock in Ramat Hasharon near Tel Aviv.
In 1979 he graduated from the IDF's Command and Staff College and the National Security College, followed by a bachelor's degree in history from Tel Aviv University and a master's degree in political science from the University of Haifa.
He left for the United States in 1997 to study for a master's degree in national resource management at the National Defense University.
Military experience
Gantz joined the Israeli army in 1977 and began his career as a soldier in the paratroopers' brigade, with his first assignment as part of the security team responsible for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's visit to Israel.
During his military career that lasted nearly 4 decades, Gantz showed clear ingenuity and excellence, which enabled him to assume various leadership positions and rise in the ranks of the Israeli army very quickly, to the point of being nicknamed "emir." A delegation participated in major military operations of the Israeli army and played an active role in the conflicts of the last decades of the country's history.
Gantz was a veteran of Lebanon, taking part in Operation Litani in March 1978, where about 25,200 Israeli troops swept through southern Lebanon, resulting in between 400 and 400 Lebanese martyrs and the displacement of about 1982,<> to Beirut and its suburbs. Gantz also participated in the First Lebanon War in <>.
In 1999, Gantz was appointed commander of the liaison unit with Lebanon and then oversaw the withdrawal from the region (Associated Press)
After graduating from officer school, he officially began his military career and was appointed company commander, then commander of the "Snake" battalion in the paratroopers brigade in 1987, and then became commander of the elite unit "Chaldag" in the Israeli Air Force in 1989, during which he led Operation "Solomon" in Addis Ababa in 1991, which included the air transport of 14,<> Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
He served as commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, and in 1994 was tasked with restoring security in the West Bank city of Hebron after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, held senior positions, participated in the fight against the intifada, and later became commander of the Northern Command command.
In 1995 he took command of the Parachute Brigade, and after his master's degree he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, and was appointed commander of a reserve division in the Northern Command.
In 1999, he was appointed commander of the liaison unit with Lebanon, then oversaw the withdrawal from the area, and was the last commander of the Israeli army. Gantz said he was the last soldier to cross the border and closed the gate himself when Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
In 2005 he was appointed commander of the ground forces, and in July 2006 he participated in the war on Lebanon, a fierce war against Lebanese Hezbollah in which the IDF did not achieve the desired results.
Gantz moved to the United States in 2007, where he served as military attaché, and in 2009 became deputy chief of the IDF general staff, during which time he began implementing the Tefen Plan for the development of the Israeli armed forces, as well as other operations in the reserves, human resources, and army budget.
Benny Gantz started his political career strongly and crowded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of power (Getty Images)
Chief of the General Staff
On the nomination of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Gantz was unanimously approved by the Knesset on February 13, 2011, to become Chief of the IDF General Staff and promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Gantz is an excellent officer and experienced commander, with rich experience and all the attributes needed to be a successful army commander.
In his first year as chief of the general staff, Gantz appointed the IDF's first female general, Orna Barbify, and participated in the decision to exchange Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Gantz led the Israeli army in the aggression on Gaza in Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, in which the number of Palestinian martyrs reached 168, including 34 children, and the occupation forces destroyed 2153,20925 homes, and the number of forcibly displaced by the demolition and destruction of homes reached about 9259,<>, including <>,<> children, according to the report of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.
Gantz also led Israel's 2014-day operation Protective Edge over Gaza in 51, in which Israel launched more than 6,50 airstrikes and fired some 1462,<> artillery shells, killing <>,<> Palestinian civilians, a third of them children.
Gantz boasted in videos of the number of Palestinians killed and the targets destroyed under his command, saying that "1364,<> terrorists" had been killed in the enclave, which he said had been "returned to the Stone Age."
On February 16, 2015, Gantz's term as chief of the General Staff ended after a 38-year military career.
Benny Gantz led the Israeli army in the 2012 and 2014 Gaza aggression (European)
Social Sector & Business
After retiring from the Israeli army, Gantz entered a mandatory three-year waiting period during which he could not run for the Knesset.
Meanwhile, he became involved in social activities and participated in various projects, serving as chairman of the general advisory board of the Natal Israel Center, president of the Yad David Ben-Gurion Foundation, and launching the Mada Negev program, which introduces children to science and technology.
He also entered the financial and business sector, participating in several institutions, such as the real estate company "Amut Investments" and "Elron Electronic Industries".
He became president of Fifth Dimension in 2015, an Israeli security tech startup that closed in 2018 after the United States imposed sanctions on its Russian investor, saying he had a role in Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections.
Political experience
Gantz officially announced his entry into politics in July 2018, and six months later founded the Steadfastness for Israel party, which adopted policies focused on education and national security. In January 6, he announced an electoral alliance with former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and his Telem party.
The following month, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party joined the coalition, and a unified list known as Gantz's Blue and White party was established to run in the 2019 general election.
With the support of Netanyahu's allies, Benny Gantz became the 17th speaker of the Knesset after the resignation of Yuli Edelstein (Reuters)
Gantz started his political career strongly, competing with Netanyahu at the helm, as an opinion poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 in early 2019 indicated that Gantz won the support of 35% of Israelis compared to 36% for Netanyahu.
In the April 2019 elections, the coalition and Likud tied with 35 seats each, and Gantz was elected to the 21st Knesset and became head of the Blue and White bloc.
After Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, new elections were called in September of the same year, in which Blue and White won 33 seats to Likud's 32, but the two parties again failed to reach an agreement to form a government.
Israeli Defense Minister
On March 2, 2020, a third election was held and did not produce a tangible majority, and although Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tasked Gantz with forming a government, his mandate ended in a failure to present a coalition to the Knesset.
It was clear that without joining a unity government with Likud, a fourth election was likely to go to a fourth election, an outcome Gantz wanted to avoid, so on March 26, 2020, he reneged on his pledge "not to work under a prime minister accused of corruption," announcing that he would "consider forming a national emergency government" in agreement with Netanyahu.
Gantz, backed by Netanyahu's political allies, became the 17th Knesset president after Yuli Edelstein's resignation, with 74 members voting in favor and 18 against him out of a total of 120 members.
Gantz became in 2011 Chief of the IDF General Staff (European)
Netanyahu and Gantz signed an agreement on April 20, 2020 to form a "national emergency government," under which Netanyahu would serve as prime minister for 18 months, with Gantz as deputy prime minister and defense minister, as well as the position of "alternative prime minister."
After failing to pass the budget, the government was dissolved at the end of 2020 and the fourth election in less than two years was held on March 23, 2021.
The Gantz-Netanyahu alliance led to the collapse of Blue and White, Gantz lost support when he reneged on his campaign promise not to work in a government with Netanyahu, party members began to defect to other parties, and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, the second-in-command on the partial list, announced that he would not run for election. Moshe Ya'alon also decided to withdraw from the race after running with Blue and White in three elections.
At one point, Blue and White might not win any seats, but Gantz rallied support and won 8 seats, finishing fourth, and Netanyahu won 30 seats and received a mandate to form a government.
Gantz did not agree to join a coalition with the prime minister this time, Netanyahu lost his chance to form a government and the Yesh Atid leader received a mandate to form a government, joined by Gantz, who was appointed defense minister in June 2021.
Benny Gantz at a Knesset meeting in Jerusalem (Reuters)
To the opposition again
Following the dissolution of the Knesset in June 2022 to hold early elections, Gantz and Gideon Sa'ar announced in August 2022 the merger of Blue and White and New Hope, and their intention to run on a joint list in the November elections of the same year, joined by former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, and the new bloc was named the National Unity Party. But Netanyahu and his allies won this election.
On October 12, 2023, Netanyahu announced the formation of an emergency government following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and Gantz joined the "Security Council" that manages the war, which emerged from the emergency government, and said that he views positively to join a government whose tasks focus on the security situation, and pledged to do everything necessary to return Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.
Political Orientations
Gantz affirms his concern for Israel's internal unity, which is torn apart by "divisions," proclaims his belief in "a secure, Jewish and democratic Israel," and sees the need to strengthen the IDF in the face of challenges.
He stresses that "Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel," but calls for peace with the Palestinians while preserving Israel's security interests. He refers to regional concessions to the Palestinians, but has avoided talking about the question of Palestinian statehood and rejects Israel becoming a binational state.
Gantz sees the Jordan Valley as "an integral part of the State of Israel," the country's eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict, and opposes withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights. It shows extreme toughness on Israel's external security and calls for confronting the threat of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
Benny Gates was appointed defense minister from April 2020 to December 2022 (Reuters)
Responsibilities and positions
- Benny Gantz has held many important military and political positions, in addition to the jobs he held in the business sector, most notably:
- Commander of the "Snake" battalion in the Parachute Brigade (1987-1989).
- Commander of the elite unit "Shaldag" in the Israeli Air Force (1989-1992).
- Commander of the Reserve Parachute Brigade Unit (1992-1993).
- Commander of the Judea Brigade in the Judea and Samaria Division (1994-1995).
- Commander of the Parachute Brigade (1995-1997).
- Commander of a reserve division in the Northern Region Command with the rank of brigadier general (1998-1999).
- Commander of the Liaison Unit with Lebanon (1999-2000).
- Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division (2000-2002).
- Commander of the Northern Command (2002-2005).
- Commander of the Land Forces (2005-2007).
- Military Attaché of the Israeli Army to the United States (2007-2009).
- Deputy Chief of Staff (2009-2010).
- IDF Chief of Staff with the rank of Lieutenant General (2011-2015).
- Chairman of "Fifth Dimension Company" (2015-2018).
- Leader of the Blue and White party (since February 2019).
- Member of the Knesset (April 2019).
- Deputy Prime Minister and "Alternative Prime Minister" (April 2020 – December 2020).
- Minister of Defense April 2020 – December 2022.
- Member of the Emergency Government since October 12, 2023.
Awards and honors
In February 2012, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, awarded Benny Gantz the Order of Merit on behalf of the US president.
According to a letter attached to the award, it was awarded to Gantz for his distinguished and meritorious leadership and military service.