After marathon talks Gantz, Lapid forge alliance in challenge to Netanyahu

Former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi also joining united centrist list as leaders agree to rotate being prime minister should they win the elections.

From L to R: Former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon, Israel Resilience leader Benny Gantz, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid and former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi on February 21, 2019. (Courtesy Israel Resilience)

After marathon, all-night talks, the leaders of the two top-polling centrist parties, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, announced Thursday that they had agreed to merge their party lists to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s frontrunning Likud in the upcoming elections.

Breaking silence, Gantz says he will ‘fix’ nation-state law to help Druze

Drawing fire from right and left, former army chief and would-be PM tells Druze activists controversial legislation weakens close bonds with their community, which serves in IDF.

Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz seen with members of the Druze community and activists outside his home in Rosh Ha'ayin, during a protest against the nation-state law, January 14, 2019. (Flash90)

After weeks of refusing to give interviews or make public statements, former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, the chairman of the new Israel Resilience party, offered on Monday a glimpse of his largely unknown political views, breaking his silence with a vow to “fix” the controversial nation-state law to help the Druze community.