Name? Benny Gantz
Westphalian identity? Israeli
Age? 60
Why is he in the news? Because he is a complete and utter idiot! He and Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to an emergency coalition due to Covid-19 and the fact that the only alternative was a fourth election. Making Netanyahu Prime Minister for the first one and a half years and Gantz for the second one and a half years, is completely ignoring that terms last four years or maybe they are just respecting Israeli traditions of no government ever lasting the full four years. Also, Netanyahu will have more impact on judicial appointments and cannot be trialled while he is Prime Minister, they agreed that he will be trialled after……………………..
Why do we care? Covid-19 could mean a lot of good or bad for our favourite evil doers in the world. Some are struggling, Trump and Bolsonaro, others succeeding like Orban and now Netanyahu. He was almost finished, an inquiry against him over corruption, eroding support and three elections without a clear majority behind him. But Benny Gantz had to mess it up and agree to the worst deal imaginable.
Why should you care? Because this is another democracy which is bent to the extreme by its leader to stay in power during Covid-19! That is not good, just for the record.
Who else cares? Netanyahu! What stops him from breaking up the coalition after one and a half years and calling for new elections? How did Gantz ignore that possibility? Does he have that much trust in BB? (Nickname for Netanyahu only true Israel insiders know about) Maybe he saw a chance of representing all Israelis in a grand coalition and not just the conservatives kept in power through small, very religious parties.
Any further comments? What we can clearly see is that the negotiations between Gantz and Netanyahu in the past months were not about policies and making a real change but rather their own personal gains. But then again, what would a fourth election have changed?
