Has Israel's Gantz lost will to fight?
With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting on a one-year budget, Defense Minister Benny Gantz is left with two unappealing choices and perhaps the end of his political career.
Of all the decisions he has made in his brief political career, Blue and White Party chair Benny Gantz is facing the most difficult yet. Midnight on Aug. 24, less than three weeks from now, is the deadline for Israel to pass its state budget. According to long-established law, if a budget is not passed by then, the Knesset will be dissolved and new elections will be called.
The polls show Gantz winning less than 10 seats, down from the Blue and White's current 15. The general assumption is that in the case of yet another early election, he will retire from politics and vacate his seat for the number-two Knesset member on his party’s list, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.
