Benny Gantz

Benny Gantz (2019)

Benny Gantz (2011)

Benjamin "Benny" Gantz ( Hebrew בני גנץ; Born June 9, 1959 in Kfar Chaim , Emek Chefer ) is an Israeli lieutenant general (Raw-Aluf) and politician ( Chosen LeJisra'el ). He was President of the Knesset from March 26 to May 17, 2020 . Since May 17, 2020 he has been Minister of Defense and Alternate Prime Minister of Israel. He was the 20th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2011 to 2015 and previously Commander-in-Chief of the Israeli Army from 2005 to 2007 .

With the Chosen LeJisra'el party he founded and after merging with Jair Lapid's Yesch Atid party to form the center - left alliance Kachol Lavan (“Blue White”), Gantz stood in the early parliamentary elections in Israel in April 2019 , but was subject to Likud from Prime Minister Netanyahu . In the early elections in September that year , his party became the strongest force in the Knesset, despite minimal losses .

Origin and family

Gantz was born in 1959 in the moshav Kfar Chaim in the central Israeli regional association Emek Chefer . His mother Malka Gantz, nee Weiss, was a Holocaust survivor. She originally came from the small Hungarian town of Mezőkovácsháza . She was deported to Bergen-Belsen by the Nazis . After the Second World War , she came to Israel on board the Haim Arlosoroff in 1947 .

Gantz is married and has four children.

Military career

Gantz as Chief of Staff during an exercise in the Golan Heights (May 2011)

Gantz visits the South Command , August 2011

Gantz receives Gilad Schalit after his release (with Benjamin Netanyahu , front right) on October 18, 2011

Gantz joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1977. As a volunteer, he first came to the paratroopers and in 1979 was granted an officer license . During his military career he served in various uses and branches of the armed forces. In 1987 he became commander of the Viper - brigade of paratroops. In 1989 he switched to the air force and took over the anti-terrorist unit Jechidat Schaldag until he became commander of the paratrooper reserve in 1992. In 1994 he only took over a brigade of the Judea Division, and a short time later he moved to the Samaria Division , already promoted to Tat-Aluf (German roughly Brigadier General ) .

After this use he returned to the paratroopers in 1995 and became the commander of this branch of service . In 1999 he joined as head of the Lebanon Liaison Unit (German: Lebanon troop connection ). Promoted to Aluf in 2000, he first took over command of the Judea Division and shortly thereafter command of the Samaria Division. Finally, in 2002 he took over command of the North Command and in 2005 became the commander of the Army Headquarters (Mazi) created in 1998. He handed this command over to Avi Mizrachi at the end of 2007 . As of January 2008, Gantz was a military attaché to the Israeli embassy in the United States .

Gantz earned various academic degrees during his military training or during his training; so he graduated from both Inter-Arm Command and Staff College and the National Defense College of the Israel Defense Forces. He also received a Master of Arts degree in National Resource Management from the US National Defense University . He then went on to study at the Universities of Tel Aviv and Haifa and earned a bachelor's degree in history and a further Master of Arts in political science.

The Madhat Yusuf case

In early 1999, the Israeli military took control of access to Joseph's tomb in the city of Nablus . This move sparked violent protests among the Palestinians. In the course of the Second Intifada , on the afternoon of October 1, 2000, there was an armed attack on Joseph's tomb. Madhat Yusuf, a 19-year-old Druze sergeant in the border police force of the Israeli army, was hit by a Palestinian sniper and sustained an artery wound. The local Israeli commander, Major General Yitzhak Eitan, asked the Palestinian Authority to cease fire in order to recover the seriously injured Madhat Yusuf. The autonomy authority agreed, but could (or did not want) to assert itself against its own fighters in Nablus. In any case, the security forces who should have evacuated Yusuf did not arrive. Madhat Yusuf bled to death after four hours without help. The exact circumstances why the rescue did not come about have not yet been fully clarified.

The survivors of Yusuf accuse Gantz, who was the commander of the Israeli units in the West Bank, of failing to provide assistance. He said he failed to send reinforcements to save Yusuf and instead entered into negotiations with the Palestinians. They tried to prevent his appointment as Commander-in-Chief in 2005 in court. However, the court followed the military's reasoning that Gantz was not the most senior officer in the field. The decision to forego a massive army deployment at Joseph's grave for military and political reasons was made in a higher place. The Madhat Yusuf case became the symbol of failed operations by the Israeli army.

Political career

On December 27, 2018, Gantz founded a political party called Chosen LeJisra'el (translated: Resilience for Israel) and stood in the parliamentary election on April 9, 2019 with the aim of replacing Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Gantz 'party merged with the Telem party founded by Moshe Ja'alon and the liberal Yesch Atid of Jair Lapid to form the electoral alliance Kachol Lavan. The alliance took first place in polls, but was ultimately defeated by Prime Minister Netanyahu's national-conservative Likud .

Gantz has been a member of the ( 21st ) Knesset since April 30, 2019 and is an opposition leader until March 25, 2020. He has been President of the Knesset since March 26, 2020.

On April 20, 2020, Gantz and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to form a joint government. An agreement on an emergency government of national unity was signed. In the grand coalition, a rotation in the office of prime minister is planned. Netanyahu will initially hold office for a year and a half and then be replaced by Gantz.

Web links

Commons : Benny Gantz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Benny Gantz , Knesset website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Benny Gantz elected President of Parliament , Spiegel Online, March 26, 2020.
2. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Israel: Gantz and Netanyahu agree on grand coalition - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved April 20, 2020 . 
3. ^ Benny Gantz and Jair Lapid: Electoral Alliance against Netanyahu. Retrieved April 8, 2019 . 
4. ↑ https://www.watson.de/international/best%20of%20watson/997339828-netanjahu-herausnahmer-benny-gantz-wer-ist-der-favorit-in-der-israel-wahl%7Ctitel= He wants Netanyahu Beat in Israel: Who is Benny Gantz?
5. ^ Israel commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day. Haaretz, April 8, 2013, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
6. ^ In Auschwitz, Israeli army chief vows to prevent a 'second Holocaust'. Times of Israel, April 8, 2013, accessed April 18, 2017 . 
7. ^ Haaretz: Benny Gantz, Netanyahu Rival, Gives Campaign Launch Speech - Full English Transcript . In: Haaretz . ( Haaretz.com [accessed February 17, 2019]).
8. ↑ ^{a b} Ulrich W. Sahm: In portrait: Israel's new commander-in-chief. haGalil.com - Jewish Life Online, February 14, 2011, accessed March 2, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Police Cpl. - Madhat Yusuf. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2000, accessed March 2, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Challenger Benny Gantz on the defensive. Retrieved April 8, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Gantz 'Israel would protest. In: taz . March 27, 2020, accessed March 27, 2020 . 
12. ↑ tagesschau.de: Israel: Netanyahu and Gantz agree on a coalition. Retrieved April 20, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Jiftach Ron Valley	Army Chief of Staff 2005–2007	Avi Mizrachi
Gabi Ashkenazi	Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces 2011–2015	Gadi egg feces