Blue and White – Israel Resilience

The party has no 2026 platform with a cost-of-living plan. A non-partisan election guide notes that the party has not published a 2026 manifesto and relies on 2025 policy material, which focuses on national service, public-service reform, defense, education, resilience and rebuilding the north ^[29]. The evidence below is mostly older or indirect.

• Dated background (2019; statement): In his first campaign speech on 29 January 2019, Gantz pledged to fight monopolies and deal with the housing crisis ^[37].
• Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The March 2019 Blue and White platform (written with the parties it then ran with) promised NIS 12.5 billion more for the health system over five years ^[35]. Its other economic commitments included long-term care insurance and a gradually longer school day ^[36].
• Action: In opposition, Gantz voted against the 2025 state budget bill in a Knesset vote on 16 December 2024 ^{[43, 46]}. On 26 November 2025 he voted for a motion calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the government's failure to fight the cost of living ^{[43, 46]}.
• Action: Gantz has consistently voted for targeted benefits for military reservists, including:
  • state funding of daycare fees for reservists' children (12 March 2025 and 10 December 2025) ^{[43, 46]};
  • a local property-tax (arnona) discount for active reservists (27 November 2024) ^{[44, 47]};
  • an income-tax credit for reserve service (8 January 2025) ^{[44, 47]}.

Closest option(s): Tentatively, direct help for households (direct-support-for-households). This rests only on Gantz's 2024–2026 votes for benefits aimed at specific groups, mainly reservists; the party has published no cost-of-living plan since 2021. The 2019 anti-monopoly pledge is older background and does not decide the position.

No detailed party plan on crime in Arab society was found. The Knesset voting record gives the clearest picture.

• Action: On 10 December 2025 Gantz voted against a private bill by MK Zvika Fogel, which passed its preliminary reading 54–41 ^{[43, 46, 79]}. The bill would let the National Security Minister, with the Defense Minister's approval, declare a crime organization a terror organization. Such a declaration would follow a reasoned request from the head of the Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service), with the police commissioner's opinion and the attorney general's approval ^[52]. These are powers normally used against terrorism.
• Action: On 3 July 2024 he voted against a bill to allow holding people without trial (administrative detention) for membership in a terror organization ^{[43, 46]}.
• Action: Gantz voted for private bills to raise penalties for illegally holding weapons (5 February 2025) and to fine people who hold illegal weapons (29 October 2025) ^{[43, 46]}.
• Action: On 15 July 2024 his faction filed a no-confidence motion against the government titled "a failing National Security Minister who cannot deal with rising crime", and Gantz voted for it ^{[44, 47]}.

Closest option(s): On the evidence available, the party opposes extending terror-style powers (Shin Bet involvement, holding people without trial) to criminal organizations, and supports tougher weapons enforcement under ordinary law. This is closest to giving the police more resources without special powers (more-police-resources-normal-law). No documented positions on investing in Arab local councils were found.

• Action: As a war cabinet minister, on 18 May 2024 Gantz set Netanyahu a June 8 deadline to adopt six goals ^[14]. These included:

  • bring the hostages home;
  • "topple Hamas rule, demilitarize the Gaza Strip and gain Israeli security control";
  • set up "an international civilian governance mechanism for Gaza, including American, European, Arab and Palestinian elements" as the basis for a future alternative that is "not Hamas and is not" Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

  When the deadline passed, he left the government on 9 June 2024. He said "Netanyahu prevents us from progressing to real victory" and called for elections by the fall ^[13].

• Statement: On 14 June 2024, back in opposition, he said that freeing the hostages should take priority over the fighting in Gaza: "If there is a change in the fighting and our hostages are returned, and we do what needs to be done in the Gaza Strip in a year, or in two years, that's not an issue" ^[33].

• Statement: On 3 February 2025 he said the next phase of the hostage deal must include replacing Hamas's rule and demilitarizing Gaza: "Either Gaza will be demilitarized – or it will remain demolished. That must be the condition for reconstruction" ^[31].

• Statement: On 5 February 2025 he said Israel "has nothing to lose" from US President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Gaza residents. He called creating safe areas outside Gaza for those who choose to leave "admirable" and said reconstruction money must not again fund weapons and tunnels ^[32].

• Statement: On 22 February 2026 he said that "no one's really going anywhere" from Gaza's two million-plus Palestinians, and that Israel must not allow major, immediate threats to form on its borders ^[24].

• Statement: On 2 August 2026, in a social-media post about the current deal with Hamas, he wrote that "today, Israel cannot compromise on Hamas' full disarmament in Gaza before retreating from further territory" ^[30].

• Statement: In an interview published on 27 August 2026 he set out these principles ^[23]:

  • no Israeli settlement in Gaza;
  • Palestinians who wish to leave voluntarily may do so;
  • Israel keeps full security superiority;
  • Palestinians will have to run their own affairs in Gaza;
  • a 10 km zone along the border where no threats may build up.

  On 3 September 2026 he repeated the 10 km principle for all fronts, including Gaza and Lebanon ^[22]. On 18 September 2026 The Times of Israel reported him stressing that Israel is not taking revenge in Gaza but is securing its own future by working to defeat Hamas ^[21].

Closest option(s): Defeat Hamas, then keep Israeli security control while a local administration without Hamas runs daily life, with no Israeli settlement in Gaza (defeat-hamas-then-security-control). His 2026 demand for no further withdrawal before full disarmament also matches holding positions until disarmament (hold-positions-disarmament-first). His 2024 support for an international civilian mechanism shares elements with advance-international-arrangement. His February 2025 support for voluntary relocation shares one element of resume-fighting-full-control, but he has said there should be no Israeli settlement in Gaza ^[23].

• Action: In January 2022, while Gantz was Defense Minister, the government published a Security Service Law bill (amendment 26) "to integrate yeshiva students" ^{[15, 60]}. It set annual enlistment targets for Haredim and lowered the age of exemption from service (21 for two years, then 22 for a year, then 23). It also cut state funding for yeshiva students if the targets were not met: to 80% of the base amount after one year of missing the target, falling step by step to 20% after seven consecutive years ^{[60, 73]}. The bill failed on a 54–54 tie on 17 January 2022 and passed its first reading 51–48 on 31 January 2022, with Gantz voting for it; he called its passage "the first step on the way to a comprehensive service plan I intend to advance" ^{[80, 81]}.
• Formal commitment: On 26 February 2024 Gantz and Eisenkot presented an "Israeli Service Plan" under which every citizen would do military or civilian service. The IDF would have first pick, and Haredim and Arab citizens would be included through a Defense Ministry service directorate ^[61]. "Adopt a framework for service under which all Israelis will serve" was one of his six conditions for staying in the government in May 2024 ^[14].
• Action: On the night of 10–11 June 2024 the Knesset voted 63–57 to revive the 2022 bill under the "continuity" rule, which lets a new Knesset continue a bill from where the previous Knesset stopped. Gantz and all the faction MKs who voted, including Eisenkot and Kahana, voted against ^{[41, 45, 48, 73]}.
• Statement: On 1 December 2025 Gantz said of the 2022 bill: "we submitted it as a bridging law, until we can regulate the service framework". He added: "One – everyone needs to serve. Two – the army needs more" ^[62].
• Statement: At a faction meeting on 27 October 2025 Gantz said: "Blue and White and I will only sit in a government that will legislate a service-for-all framework, which includes an enlistment law". He added that the party would not again let the service framework be watered down "as in the change government" (the 2021–22 government) ^[63].
• Action: Gantz voted for these opposition bills ^{[41, 45]}:
  • fines of NIS 50,000 for not fulfilling security-service duties, and NIS 100,000 where the intent was to avoid service (4 February 2026) ^[54];
  • a 20% budget cut for schools where fewer than 80% of graduates required to serve enlist in military or civilian service (26 November 2025) ^[55];
  • a Basic Law amendment barring people who did not fulfil their service duty from sitting in the security cabinet (24 December 2025) ^[56].
• Action: On 14 July 2026 he voted against the final reading of the government's Security Service Law (amendment 28, temporary provision), which passed 58–54 ^{[41, 45, 72]}. The law froze arrest, investigation and enforcement proceedings against yeshiva students who are required to serve, if they study at least 45 hours a week (40 in a kollel, a yeshiva for married men) and, from the law's start, have no other occupation. Its text ran until 30 November 2026 ^[59]. The High Court of Justice froze the law the next day and struck it down on 3 September 2026 ^[84]. Knesset records list it as a continuation of the same 2022 government bill (booklet 1502) that the June 2024 vote revived ^{[59, 60]}.
• Statement: On 22 February 2026 he said that every citizen should serve, with options "from military to community service alone" ^[24]. On 3 September 2026 he said that everyone at 18 must serve, and "whoever doesn't serve – won't receive" ^[22]. In August 2026 he said the Haredi parties cannot be in the next government "because they won't agree to a fair enlistment law and public national education for all" ^[19].

Change over time: The 2022 bill that set gradual targets and funding cuts was published by the government while Gantz was Defense Minister, and he voted for it at its first reading in January 2022 ^{[15, 60, 80]}. In June 2024 he voted against reviving that same bill ^{[41, 48]}. The two votes were cast in different Knessets, the first as part of the coalition and the second in the opposition, with the October 7 attack and the war in between. His explanation is that the 2022 bill was submitted only as a "bridging law" until a full service framework could be set up ^[62].

Closest option(s): Require every 18-year-old, including Haredim, to do military or civilian national service, with benefits tied to service (universal-service-with-sanctions). His 2022 government bill matched the gradual-targets approach (gradual-targets-by-agreement), but his positions since 2024 have moved away from it.

No 2026 housing plan was found ^[29].

• Dated background (2019; statement): In January 2019 Gantz pledged to tackle the housing crisis ^[37].
• Action: On 26 November 2025 Gantz voted for a private bill giving public-housing tenants rights to buy their homes ^{[43, 46]}. On 1 January 2025 he voted for a bill giving reservists priority in buying Israel Land Authority land in the periphery ^{[43, 46]}. On 25 March 2026 he voted for a bill to develop Kiryat Shmona and give reservists and disabled veterans priority in housing there ^{[43, 46]}.

Closest option(s): The limited evidence points to direct help for buyers, especially those who served (direct-help-for-buyers), together with developing the north and periphery (develop-periphery-and-transport). The evidence is thin.

• Dated background (2019; statement): At the Munich Security Conference on 17 February 2019 Gantz called Iran's regime "an evil one", said "On my watch Iran will not have nuclear weapons" and "On my watch there will be no appeasement" ^[71].
• Action: As Defense Minister in October 2022, he backed the US-mediated maritime border agreement with Lebanon. He said it "establishes a new security equation" and that Israel "did not concede a single millimeter of security" ^[70].
• Formal commitment: Advancing normalization with Saudi Arabia "as part of a comprehensive process" was one of his six conditions in May 2024 ^[14].
• Statement: On 14 June 2024 he said Israel must act in the north "either through an agreement or through escalation if necessary" ^[33].
• Statement: On 3 February 2025 he called for dismantling Iran's nuclear program in coordination with the US ^[31]. On 5 February 2025 he said there was "a window of opportunity to remove the Iranian nuclear threat" and called for Lebanon's full implementation of the ceasefire agreement in the north ^[32].
• Statement: In 2026 he said Israel must not allow threats to build up on its borders. He set out a principle of no hostile presence within 10 km of the border on every front, including Lebanon ^{[22, 24]}. In September 2026 he said Israel "cannot allow radical forces to build up capabilities that could be used to attack Israel", and The Times of Israel described him as fairly optimistic about Israel's operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran ^[21]. In August 2026 he pledged to "rebuild effective cooperation with the US" ^[19].

Closest option(s): Keep up military pressure and turn it into US-backed agreements, such as normalization with Saudi Arabia and security arrangements in Lebanon (force-plus-us-backed-agreements). His no-threats-near-the-border principle also has elements of military-pressure-until-threats-removed.

• Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The March 2019 Blue and White platform said "there will be no second disengagement" and committed to keeping the settlement blocs, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem and the Golan. It proposed a regional conference with Arab states to "deepen the process of separation from the Palestinians", without mentioning a Palestinian state ^{[35, 36]}. In January 2019 Gantz said that if it turned out there was no way to reach peace at that time, he would strengthen the settlement blocs and the Golan Heights, and the Jordan Valley would remain Israel's eastern security border ^[37].
• Statement: On 30 October 2022 Gantz said: "The left in Israel thinks the solution is two states for two peoples. I am against this." He proposed instead to "shrink the conflict" rather than slide into "a binational state", and to keep the Jordan Valley and Israeli security superiority ^[34].
• Action: On 18 July 2024 Gantz and the four other faction MKs who voted (Tamano-Shata, Tropper, Farkash-Hacohen and Biton) voted for a Knesset resolution, which passed 68–9, stating that "the Knesset firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan" ^{[39, 42, 50]}.
• Action: On 22 January 2025 he and all the faction MKs who voted, including Eisenkot and Kahana, voted for a private bill to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley. The bill was defeated 32–56 ^{[42, 45, 51]}.
• Action: On 23 July 2025 the Knesset adopted a coalition motion calling on the government to apply sovereignty to all Jewish settlements in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. Knesset records show no vote by Gantz on the adopted motion, which passed 71–13 ^{[45, 78]}. His faction submitted its own alternative motion, and Gantz and the faction MKs voted for it ^{[42, 45]}. As read out by Chili Tropper, it said that applying sovereignty "should be done with a responsible diplomatic approach through a national-consensus government, while arranging the rights of all residents", not through a "fictitious show" in the plenum. It was rejected 9–66 ^{[40, 42, 45]}.
• Action: On 22 October 2025 he voted for a private bill to apply Israeli sovereignty to Ma'ale Adumim, which passed its preliminary reading ^{[38, 42, 45]}. Knesset records show no vote by him that day on the separate bill applying sovereignty to all of Judea and Samaria, which passed its preliminary reading 25–24 ^{[38, 77]}.

Closest option(s): The record matches applying sovereignty to key areas only, such as the Jordan Valley and Ma'ale Adumim, while rejecting a Palestinian state (partial-sovereignty-area-c). His 2022 call to "shrink the conflict" and his faction's 2025 position that sovereignty should be applied only by a national-consensus government also overlap with keeping things as they are (maintain-current-situation). This line rests on evidence from 2022 onwards.

• Dated background (2019; statement): In January 2019 Gantz pledged "zero tolerance for corruption of any kind" and said a prime minister under indictment could not serve ^{[17, 37]}. The 2019 platform proposed term limits for the prime minister ^[36].
• Statement: When the Knesset passed the law changing the Judicial Selection Committee on 27 March 2025, Gantz warned that "democracies fall or die slowly when they suffer from a malignant disease called the tyranny of the majority" ^[66]. The law replaces the two Israel Bar Association members with one lawyer chosen by the coalition and one chosen by the opposition. It takes effect in the next Knesset ^{[66, 67]}. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the final vote, and opposition faction leaders pledged to repeal the law ^[66]. Gantz said that day: "even if it takes time – we will fix it. The politicization of the Judicial Selection Committee will be cancelled, a real reform will be advanced" ^[76].
• Action: Gantz voted against:
  • two private bills to split the attorney general's role (29 October 2025) ^{[42, 45]};
  • the bill on the attorney general and a new chief prosecutor (2 June 2026) ^{[42, 45]};
  • the final reading of the "Attorney General (Opinions, Representation and Supervision)" law (15 July 2026), which passed 65–51 ^{[42, 45, 79]};
  • a Basic Law amendment on senior civil-service appointments (10 June 2026) ^{[42, 45]}.
• Action: He voted for Basic Law amendments limiting how long a prime minister can serve (3 July 2024, 9 July 2025 and 18 February 2026) ^{[44, 47]}.
• Statement: In August 2026 Gantz named "a constitution" among the key decisions a broad government should make, and said the party planned to "advance a constitution" ^[19].
• Formal commitment: The 2022 National Unity list committed to safeguarding judicial independence and the separation of powers ^[9].

Closest option(s): Agree on the rules through a broad compromise anchored in a constitution (broad-agreed-constitutional-framework). His votes against the coalition's attorney-general bills, and his statement that the politicization of the Judicial Selection Committee "will be cancelled", also match repealing the changes and protecting court and attorney-general independence (repeal-changes-protect-independence).

• Action: On 26 May 2024, as a minister, Gantz submitted a proposed government resolution to set up a state commission of inquiry. It would cover political, military and intelligence decision-making before, during and after October 7 ^[64].
• Action: On 17 July 2024 and 1 July 2026 Gantz voted for opposition bills to set up a state commission of inquiry into October 7 ^{[42, 45]}. On 19 March 2025 he voted for an opposition bill to amend the Commissions of Inquiry Law to make a state commission mandatory after certain events ^{[42, 45]}. The July 2026 bill (by MK Meir Cohen) says the President of the Supreme Court appoints the chair and members ^[58]. Similar bills had earlier been filed by his faction's MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, and an identical one by MK Pnina Tamano-Shata ^[58].
• Action: On 24 December 2025 he voted against a coalition bill for a "state-national" commission. Under that bill, members would be chosen through the Knesset Speaker with coalition–opposition parity, and the government would define the subjects of the inquiry ^{[42, 45, 57]}.
• Statement: When the cabinet decided in early May 2025 not to establish a state commission, he tweeted: "The only reason a state commission of inquiry is not being established is an attempt to escape responsibility" ^[65]. In September 2026 he called for a state commission of inquiry into the policy of the 20 years before October 7, saying he would have to explain seven of those years there and that he does not run from responsibility ^[22]. He also said October 7 was Netanyahu's responsibility as prime minister ^[21].

Closest option(s): A state commission of inquiry whose members are picked by the President of the Supreme Court, as the law requires (state-commission-under-existing-law).

• Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The March 2019 Blue and White platform supported public transportation on Shabbat and civil unions, including for same-sex couples. It also promised to expand the egalitarian prayer area at the Western Wall, with a joint oversight council ^[35].
• Action: On 19 November 2025 Gantz and all the faction MKs who voted backed two private bills on public transport on Shabbat. Both failed (39–58 and 43–58) ^{[43, 46, 79]}. One of them would let each local authority decide whether to run public transport on Shabbat, based on a residents' survey and without employing drivers whose weekly day of rest is Shabbat ^[53].
• Action: On 25 February 2026 he voted against a bill to require consulting the Chief Rabbinate on holy places ^{[43, 46]}.
• Dated background (2020; action): As Defense Minister in November 2020, he changed Defense Ministry forms to read "parent 1" and "parent 2" to include LGBT families ^[69].

Closest option(s): Keep religious services but allow choice and local decisions, such as city-by-city Shabbat transport (more-choice-local-decisions). This rests on the November 2025 and February 2026 votes; the 2019 platform's support for civil unions is older background, and no statement on civil marriage since 2021 was found.

Action: Gantz has voted for a long series of private bills to support reservists ^{[43, 44, 46, 47]}. These include:

• daycare funding for reservists' children;
• an income-tax credit for reserve service;
• an arnona (property tax) discount;
• priority in buying Israel Land Authority land;
• a law setting up a reserves administration (22 October 2025).

Rotem Avidar Tzalik (place 5) is a reservists' rights activist and Roy Konkol (place 4) is a reservist commander ^[8].

Formal commitment: Returning residents of the north to their homes by 1 September 2024 and rehabilitating the western Negev was one of Gantz's six conditions in May 2024 ^[14]. The party's 2025 material focuses on rebuilding the north ^[29].

Action: On 11 May 2026 his faction co-sponsored a no-confidence motion on "abandoning the residents of the north and the lack of adequate protection", and he voted for it ^{[44, 47]}. On 10 June 2026 he voted for a bill extending investment incentives to factories in communities on the northern border, Sderot and the communities near Gaza ^{[44, 47]}.

The Nation-State Law is a 2018 basic law that defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The 2019 platform promised to protect equality through Basic Law amendments, without directly repealing the Nation-State Law ^[35].

Action: On 3 July 2024 and 13 November 2024 Gantz voted for bills adding equality "in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence" to the Nation-State Law ^{[43, 44, 46, 47]}. On 18 December 2024 he voted against a bill to repeal the law entirely ^{[43, 46]}. On 12 February 2025 he voted for a bill to set up a special planning committee for Druze communities ^{[43, 46]}. The 2026 list includes a Druze candidate ^[2].

Statement: Since January 2026 the party has said it will not rely on Arab parties to form a government. Its campaign slogan was "a national-consensus government – without Ben Gvir, and without Ra'am" ^{[25, 26]}. Gantz said that after October 7 a government cannot depend on Arab parties because of the security decisions ahead. At the same time, he called the great majority of Arab citizens "a loyal, working, tax-paying public" and said the state must fight crime for them, improve infrastructure and education, and require national service from them ^{[22, 24]}. In February 2026 he said that he had in the past agreed to form a government with Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, and said October 7 was the reason he no longer would ^[24].

Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The 2019 platform proposed limiting a prime minister's tenure to eight consecutive years or three terms ^[36].

Action: On 22 November 2021, while Blue and White sat in the Bennett–Lapid government, a government bill limiting a prime minister to eight years in office passed its first reading 66–48, with Gantz voting for it; it did not complete its readings ^{[82, 83]}. In opposition, Gantz voted three times for Basic Law bills limiting a prime minister's tenure, in July 2024, July 2025 and February 2026 ^{[44, 47]}.

Action: On 30 March 2026 Gantz and the other party MKs present voted against the final reading of the Death Penalty for Terrorists law, which passed ^{[42, 45, 49]}.

Action: On 27 November 2024 Gantz voted against a bill to privatize the public broadcaster Kan ^{[43, 46]}. On 4 November 2025 he voted against the coalition's communications (broadcasting) bill ^{[44, 47]}.

Statement: In August 2026 Gantz named "public education" among the key decisions for a broad government, and said the Haredi parties cannot be in the next government because they will not agree to "public national education for all", which the Jerusalem Post glossed as teaching core curriculum subjects ^[19].

Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The 2019 platform promised to gradually lengthen the school day ^[36].

Dated background (2019; formal commitment): The 2019 platform supported same-sex civil unions and surrogacy for same-sex couples ^[35].

Dated background (2020; action): As Defense Minister he adapted ministry forms for LGBT families in November 2020 ^[69].

Formal commitment: Returning the hostages was the first of Gantz's six conditions in May 2024 ^[14].

Statement: In June 2024 he said freeing the hostages should take priority over fighting in Gaza ^[33].