Benjamin Netanyahu is celebrating his birthday next week. The Israeli Prime Minister is 69 years old. There will not be a big party. Netanyahu and his wife Sara have been the focus of Israeli police for some time. Corruption allegations are the reason - and the supposedly lavish lifestyle of the two at the expense of taxpayers.

For a few days, Sara Netanyahu has even been charged with fraud and unfaithfulness in court. In recent years, it has ordered hundreds of dishes in fine restaurants worth $ 100,000. And yet, at 9 Smolenski Street, where the Netanyahu family lives, the mood is great.

Because despite the many scandals surrounding the conservative politician, he is still very popular with the population. Therefore, the head of the government is far from retiring.

How popular is Netanyahu?

According to the latest poll by TV channel 2, his Likud party would win 29 seats in the Knesset in new elections - making it the strongest force in the Israeli parliament. Although missing Netanyahu so eleven seats to reach his recently declared goal of 40 deputy mandates.

But the poll also revealed that Benny Gantz would get twelve parliamentary seats with a new party. At first attempt. He has not appeared as a politician so far and belongs to any party - he is a privateer. However, by 2015, the two-meter man was chief of staff of the Israeli army.

DPA

Benny Gantz in front of soldiers (archive)

Anyone who holds this office, no matter how long, is almost automatically popular in Israel and has the best chance of moving to the Knesset or even a government office after that time as a soldier. After all, security policy has always been one of the country's most important topics. There are many examples: Moshe Dajan, the legendary general with the eyepatch from the early days, Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak and many more exchanged uniform for suit in the past decades.

Who is Benny Gantz?

So obviously Gantz. It is true that the married father of the family has not declared publicly yet to really compete. But confidants of the 59-year-old sprinkle rumors for weeks. The polls do the rest.

And indeed, Gantz embodies much of what voters of the secular middle class enjoy: the son of a Holocaust survivor grew up in a moschav, which is an agricultural cooperative. He served as a soldier in various elite units, fought in both Lebanon wars, was deployed during the Palestinian uprisings, and commanded the armed forces in the 2014 Gaza war.

In addition, Gantz - who studied history and politics, among others - gained foreign policy experience as a military attaché at the Israeli embassy in Washington. But he has never expressed himself politically.

Why is Gantz so valuable to Netanyahu?

The rumors surrounding Gantz's switch to politics are particularly explosive because Israel has been discussing possible new elections for weeks. The reasons:

  • Netanyahu's scandals, which could possibly have legal consequences and cost him his office.
  • A long-simmering conflict between Defense Secretary Avigdor Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett on the right strategy in dealing with the Palestinians.
  • And finally, a dispute in the government over the compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox. The strict religious coalition partners of Netanyahu reject this categorically. They threaten a breach of political partnership.

Should there actually be new elections, Netanyahu would indeed, according to current survey status election winner, but also relies on coalition partners. This is where Benny Gantz comes in.

Should he - as expected - actually go into politics and start his own party, this would probably be a center-left party. The result: The many secular parties that are politically left of Netanyahu cannibalize each other. Benny Gantz is thus the wild card in the Jerusalem party alliance.

Netanyahu could once again become prime minister by forging a fragile multi-party government. So far, the greed for posts was always greater than the ideological differences, when Netanyahu asked his opponents to exploratory talks. Perhaps Gantz, whom Netanyahu has not yet openly attacked, could eventually join the Cabinet - as Secretary of Defense.