Gantz was never going to stop annexation, but his partnership with Netanyahu will now make it easier for the new government to move forward on it in a more effective way. Coupled with the personal protection Gantz has afforded the prime minister, the former opposition leader got precious little for his surrender.Continue Reading

For Ross and Makovsky, Gantz represents the dwindling hope that the peace process charade can be revived, at least for a while, in a post-Trump world, and that Israel will repair some of the democratic structures that allowed them to claim, incorrectly, that Israel is the “only democracy in the Middle East.” Thus, they paint him as not just the antidote for Netanyahu, but as a bulwark against the final demise of their two-state vision. If Palestinians are ever to be free and to have their inalienable rights recognized, such illusions must be shattered.Continue Reading

Now that the Labor party has sealed its death warrant by following Gantz into the government (with far less reason to do so than Gantz had), the only left-wing Zionist party, the Meretz party, should develop its natural alliance with the Joint List to bring a progressive voice back into Israeli politics. That won’t be an easy path. Many obstacles, beyond the mainstream Israeli opposition to such unity, stand in the way. But it may be the only hope for a viable alternative to the Israeli Right.Continue Reading

If Gantz does replace Netanyahu because of the Joint List’s support, it is something Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Israeli left can build on. It’s a move toward a genuine democracy in Israel that has never been seen before. And, ultimately, if there is to be a more peaceful and just future for Israelis and Palestinians, it is a shift the United States and others around the world need to support.Continue Reading