Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz has not been in talks about joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, despite circulating reports claiming he was considering joining to support a Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, the party confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
The government “has not been in touch with us, and we have not been in touch with them,” about joining, the spokesperson for the Blue and White Party told the Post.
“Any other claim is fabrication,” the party spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson also said that if the possibility of bringing back living hostages was on the table, “political considerations would not be made.”
The development came after a Wednesday evening KAN News report that Gantz was considering joining Netanyahu’s government to counter the expected opposition to the hostage-ceasefire deal from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich.
Blue and White MK Alon Schuster appeared to corroborate the report when speaking to KAN Reshet Bet late on Wednesday.
“Currently, there are no talks about joining the government, but if we understand that this is what will lead to the release of hostages, then that’s what we will do” Schuster said in the interview. “What do they expect – that we let the hostages die?”
Gantz's 'safety net' for Netanyahu
The Blue and White Party also responded on Thursday to a Walla opinion piece that criticized Gantz and called him a “useful idiot” amid the reports.
“An idiot, and not really a useful one, is someone who hates Netanyahu more than they want to bring back the hostages,” the Blue and White Party posted on social media.
Gantz previously held consultations about providing a “safety net” for the coalition, though he had not discussed formally entering the government.
“The government has a clear majority and a wide safety net to bring back the hostages,” he posted on X/Twitter on Monday.
Following the reports on Gantz, opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said that Netanyahu would have a “safety net” from his party for any hostage deal.
“I want to make it clear that Netanyahu has from me a safety net of 24 fingers for any hostage deal. He doesn’t even have to give anything in return, just bring them home,” Lapid stated on Thursday morning.
Later on Thursday, Netanyahu held a security cabinet meeting in which he approved the IDF’s plans for the takeover of Gaza City.
He also instructed the start of hostage negotiations and ending the war on Israel’s terms while touring the Gaza Division. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich both attended the meeting.