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Draft:Benny Gantz

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Benny Gantz
NameBenjamin "Benny" Gantz
Other NamesTemplate:Vertical list
Personal Details
Birth PlaceIsrael
ReligionJewish

Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, known as Benny Gantz, is an Israeli politician and former army commander, born on 9 June 1959 in Kfar Ahim, Israel. He graduated from the Israel Defense Forces Academy in 1982 and served in many military positions including commanding the Paratroopers Brigade, the Liaison Unit to Southern Lebanon, and the Judea and Samaria Division. He participated in wars and security operations in Lebanon and was nicknamed the Prince due to his skill.


Overview

  • Benny Gantz (Benjamin (Benny) Gantz) is an Israeli politician and former army commander, born in 1959, who is popular in Israel.
  • He graduated from the Israel Defense Forces Academy in 1982 and has served in many military positions including commanding the Paratroopers Brigade, the Liaison Unit to Southern Lebanon, and the Judea and Samaria Division.
  • In 2011, Gantz was appointed as the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, the highest military rank in Israel.
  • He took command of the army during a difficult period that witnessed the beginning of Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip and the Second Gaza War.
  • In 2019, Gantz entered politics and formed a party called "Resilience for Israel". His party won in the Israeli parliamentary elections and formed a government coalition with Yesh Atid led by Yair Lapid.
  • In October 2023, Gantz joined the "War Cabinet" formed from the emergency government established to manage the war in Gaza, following the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation initiated on the seventh of the same month by Islamic Resistance Movement.
  • He is described as a conservative and consensual individual and is very popular in Israel.


Birth

Benjamin "Benny" Gantz was born on 9 June 1959 in Kfar Ahim located in the coastal plains of Palestine occupied, 40 kilometers west of Jerusalem.

His father, Nahum Gantz, is originally from Romania and the British arrested him for attempting to enter Palestine illegally, his mother is Malaka who is of Hungarian origin.

Benny grew up in Kfar Ahim, a cooperative agricultural settlement established by Jewish immigrants in central Israel, and his parents were part of the group that established this settlement.

He is married to Revital, director of the Parent Education Center of the Nitzan Association, and has four children named Nadav, Nir, Noga, and Noam, and lives in Rosh HaAyin.

From School to Army

  • Gantz studied at Shafir Local High School in Merkez Shapira, then enrolled in a boarding school at the Kfar Hayarok youth village in Ramat HaSharon, near Tel Aviv.
  • Gantz joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1977 and began his career as a soldier in the Paratroopers Brigade, and his first mission included membership in the security team responsible for the trip of Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, to Israel.

During his military career, which lasted about 4 decades, Gantz showed obvious skill and distinction, which allowed him to attain various leadership positions and rise quickly through the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces, to the extent that he was given the nickname "Prince". He participated in major military operations of the Israel Defense Forces and played an active role in the conflicts of the last decades of the country's history.

  • He participated in Operation Litani in March 1978, in which about 25,000 Israeli soldiers attacked southern Lebanon, resulting in the killing of 200 to 400 Lebanese and the displacement of about 400,000 people to the suburbs of Beirut.
  • Gantz also participated in the First Lebanon War in 1982.
  • He graduated from the IDF Command and Staff College and the National Security College in 1979, then obtained a BA in History from Tel Aviv University and an MA in Political Science from University of Haifa.
  • After graduating from the Officers' School, he officially began his military activity and was appointed company commander, then commander of the "Mar" Battalion in the Paratroopers Brigade in 1987, and then became commander of the elite "Shaldag" Unit in the Israeli Air Force in 1989, and at that time he led Operation Solomon in Addis Ababa in 1991, which included the air transfer of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
  • He served as commander of the "Judea and Samaria" Division and in 1994, following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, took on the task of restoring security in Hebron in the West Bank and held senior positions confronting armed forces during the Intifada, and then became commander of the Northern Regional Command.

In 1995, he took command of the Paratroopers Brigade and after obtaining a master's degree was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and was appointed commander of a reserve division in the Northern Command. He went to the United States in 1997 to study for a master's degree in National Resource Management at the National Defense University.

  • In 1999, he was appointed commander of the Liaison Unit with Lebanon and then supervised the withdrawal from the area and was the last commander of the Israel Defense Forces there. Gantz said that he was the last soldier to cross the border and closed the gate when Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.
  • In 2005, he was appointed commander of the Ground Forces and participated in the Lebanon War in July 2006, which was a severe war against Hezbollah in which the Israel Defense Forces did not achieve desirable results.
  • Gantz moved to the United States in 2007 and held the position of Military Attaché there, and in 2009 became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and during this period initiated the implementation of the "Tevet Plan" for the development of the Israeli armed forces in addition to other operations in reserve forces, human resources and army budget.

Chief of General Staff

Based on the nomination of Ehud Barak, the Minister of Defense, the Knesset unanimously approved Gantz as the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces on 13 February 2011, and he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the then Prime Minister, stated in the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Gantz is an excellent officer and an experienced commander, with rich experience and all the necessary qualities for a successful army commander.

In the first year of his Chief of General Staff tenure, Gantz appointed the first woman to hold the rank of Major General in the Israel Defense Forces, Orna Barbivai, and also participated in the decision to exchange Palestinian prisoners for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier. Gantz led the Israeli army in the "Pillar of Defense" operation in November 2012 in the incursion into Gaza, in which the number of killed Palestinians reached 168, including 34 children. The Israeli forces also destroyed 2,153 homes, resulting in forced displacement. According to the report by the Human Rights Al-Mizan Center, as a result of the destruction of homes, the number reached about 20,925 people, among whom there are 9,259 children.

Gantz also led the Israeli military operation "Operation Protective Edge" in Gaza in 2014, which lasted 51 days, during which Israel carried out more than 6,000 air strikes and fired approximately 50,000 artillery shells, resulting in the killing of 1,462 Palestinian civilians. Regarding recorded footage of the number of killed Palestinians and targets destroyed under his command, Gantz stated that "1,364 terrorists" were killed in a strip that he said was "returned to the Stone Age".

On 16 February 2015, Gantz's term as Chief of General Staff ended after 38 years of military service.


Political Activity

Gantz officially announced his entry into the political arena in July 2018 and 6 months later founded the Israel Resilience Party, which adopted policies focused on education and national security. In January 2019, he announced that he had an electoral alliance with the former Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Moshe Ya'alon, and his "Telem" party.

The following month, the Yesh Atid party led by Yair Lapid joined the coalition, and a single list named the "Blue and White" party led by Gantz was created to participate in the 2019 general elections. Gantz started his political work intensely and competed with Netanyahu for the premiership, as a poll conducted by Israel's Channel 12 in early 2019 showed that Gantz enjoyed the support of 35 percent of Israelis, while Netanyahu had the support of 36 percent.

In the April 2019 elections, the coalition and Likud tied, each winning 35 seats, and Gantz was elected as a member of the 21st Knesset and became the head of the Blue and White party bloc. Following Netanyahu's failure to form a governing coalition, new elections were held in September of the same year, in which the Blue and White party won 33 seats compared to Likud's 32 seats, but the two parties again failed to reach an agreement.

Israeli Defense Minister

On March 2, 2020, the third election was held which did not achieve a tangible majority, and although the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin tasked Gantz with forming a government, his mission ended with failure to submit a coalition to the Knesset.

It was clear that without joining a national unity government with Likud, it would likely go to a fourth election, a result Gantz wanted to avoid, so on March 26, 2020, he reneged on his promise "not to serve under the leadership of a Prime Minister accused of corruption" and announced that "he would examine forming an emergency national government in agreement with Netanyahu".

Gantz, with the support of Netanyahu's political allies, following Yuli Edelstein's resignation with 74 votes in favor and 18 representatives out of a total of 120 representatives, became the 17th Speaker of the Knesset.

Netanyahu and Gantz signed an agreement on April 20, 2020 to form an "Emergency National Government". According to this agreement, Netanyahu would be Prime Minister for 18 months and Gantz Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister in 2020. Following failure to pass the budget, the government dissolved at the end of 2020 and the fourth election in less than two years was held on March 23, 2021.

The alliance of Gantz and Netanyahu led to the collapse of the Blue and White Party, and Gantz lost support by breaking his election promise not to cooperate in a government with Netanyahu, and party members began to separate and switch to other parties, and the Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, the second person on the list, announced that he would not participate in the election. Moshe Ya'alon also, after being present in the Blue and White Party in 3 elections, decided to withdraw from the competition.

At one point it seemed that Blue and White might not win any seats, but Gantz mobilized his support and won 8 seats, coming in fourth, and Netanyahu won 30 seats and received the mandate to form a government.

Gantz did not agree to join the coalition with the Prime Minister this time and Netanyahu lost his chance to form a government. The leader of Yesh Atid received the mandate to form a government and Gantz joined him and was appointed as Minister.


Political Orientations

Gantz affirms his concern regarding the internal unity of Israel, which is divided by "discords".

He emphasizes that "Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel", but calls for achieving peace with Palestinians while maintaining Israel's security interests. He refers to giving territorial concessions to Palestinians, but avoids talking about the subject of a Palestinian state and rejects Israel becoming a bi-national state.

Gantz believes that the Jordan Valley is an "inseparable part of the State of Israel" and is the country's eastern defensive barrier in any future conflict. He also opposes withdrawal from the Golan Heights Syria. He shows severe strictness regarding Israel's external security and demands countering the threat of the Iran, the Hezbollah group, and the Hamas Movement.


Medal of Merit

In February 2012, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, General Martin Dempsey, awarded the Medal of Merit to Benny Gantz on behalf of the President of the United States. In a letter accompanying this award, it stated that this award was given to Gantz for distinguished leadership and merit and military service.


Responsibilities

Besides the jobs he had in the business sector, Benny Gantz also held important military and political positions, the most prominent of which are:

  1. Commander of "Mar" Battalion in Parachute Brigade (1987 - 1989).
  2. Commander of Elite Unit "Shaldag" in Israeli Air Force (1989-1992).
  3. Commander of Parachute Brigade Unit (1992-1993).
  4. Commander of Judea Brigade in Judea and Samaria Division (1994-1995).
  5. Commander of Parachute Brigade (1995 - 1997).
  6. Commander of Reserve Division in Northern Command with rank of Major General (1998-1999).
  7. Commander of Communications Unit with Lebanon (1999-2000).
  8. Commander of Judea and Samaria Division (2000-2002).
  9. Commander of Northern Command (2002-2005).
  10. Commander of Ground Forces (2005 - 2007).
  11. Military Attaché of Israel Defense Forces in United States (2007-2009).
  12. Deputy Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces (2009-2010).
  13. Chief of Staff of Israel Defense Forces, rank of Lieutenant General (2011-2015).
  14. Head of "After Five Company" (2015-2018).
  15. Leader of Blue and White Party (from February 2019).
  16. Member of Knesset (April 2019).
  17. Deputy Prime Minister and "Alternate Prime Minister" (April 2020 - December 2020).
  18. Defense Minister April 2020 - December 2022.
  19. Member of "Emergency Government" from October 12, 2023.


Al-Aqsa Storm

File:Al-Aqsa Storm -2.jpg

In October 2023, Gantz joined the "Security Cabinet" which was formed from the emergency government to manage the war in Gaza, after the operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" which was started on the seventh of October by the Palestinian Resistance. Led by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Resistance Movement, Islamic Government (Hamas), in response to continuous attacks by the occupying army of Israel against the people of Palestine, their land and holy sites.

See also


References

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