Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has formally announced the debut of his new “Israel Resilience Party (in Hebrew, ‘Hosen Le’Israel’).
According to the registration form filed Thursday, the party seeks the “continued development and strengthening of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, according to the Zionist vision as it is expressed in the Declaration of Independence, while establishing and changing national priorities in the fields of education, development of national infrastructure, agriculture, rule of law and internal security, peace and security.”
Gantz is currently in talks with former Likud Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – who also announced the formation of his own political party earlier this week – to consider a potential merger. Unlike Gantz, Ya’alon has not yet announced a name or formal goals for his political party, other than to say that his party “won’t have any shenanigans.”
Gantz has also reportedly spoken with long-time Likud politician Dan Meridor, and southern Israeli Yerucham Mayor Michael Biton, as well as former IDF Chief Medical Officer Professor Yitzhak Kreiss and social activist / educator Hillik Tropper, according to Israel’s Channel 10 television news.
He’s expected to run as part of the opposition bloc against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.