Blue and White (Hebrew: כָּחוֹל לָבָן, romanized: Kahol Lavan) was a centrist and liberal Zionist political alliance in Israel. It was established by the Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid and Telem to run in the April 2019 Knesset election, in hopes of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blue and White defined itself as a pluralistic alliance representing all citizens on the political and religious spectrums. The phrase "blue and white" refers to the colors of the Israeli flag, and is colloquially used to describe something as being typically Israeli.
Following the March 2020 elections, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz was tasked with forming a new government after receiving endorsements from a majority of 61 MKs. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Gantz instead opted to put himself forward as interim Speaker of the Knesset while continuing negotiations to form a coalition government with Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and other parties.
Blue and White dissolved on 29 March 2020, with Yesh Atid and Telem splitting to form a separate faction called Yesh Atid–Telem. Israel Resilience Party kept the name "Blue and White" and joined the 35th government with Likud.
Contents
History
On 21 February 2019, the last day for submitting election lists for the Knesset, Yesh Atid and Israel Resilience announced that they would form an alliance for the upcoming election. Gabi Ashkenazi, also a former chief of staff, would join the list in the fourth spot.
Blue and White won 35 seats in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election, the same as Likud, and conceded defeat. President Reuven Rivlin tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a governing coalition, but failed, leading to new elections in September 2019.
In the September 2019 election, Blue and White won the election with 33 seats, one more than Likud, but Israeli President Reuven Rivlin first gave Netanyahu the chance to form the new government. Netanyahu was unable to form a government and President Rivlin gave the mandate to lead the process to Gantz, who was also unable to secure a coalition. Therefore, new elections were called for March 2020.
In the 2020 Israeli legislative election, Blue and White won 33 seats, placing it second after Likud which had 36. The alliance showed strong support in many areas, including Tel Aviv and Haifa. Following the election, the alliance became internally divided over whether to join in a unity government with Likud. Gantz was in favor, but Lapid and Ya'alon opposed.
On 29 March 2020, the alliance split up due to this difference, with Lapid and Ya'alon forming Yesh Atid–Telem, and Gantz eventually joining the 35th government with Netanyahu.
Former composition
Israel Resilience Party
On 16 February 2015, Benny Gantz completed his term as Chief of Staff and began a three-year legal moratorium in which he could not run for the Knesset. This ended on 2 July 2018. In September 2018, it was reported that Gantz planned to enter politics. On 26 December 2018, the 20th Knesset voted to dissolve itself and hold early elections. A day later, on 27 December, after 109 people signed a list of founders, the party was officially registered with the name Israel Resilience Party.
Telem
In May 2016, "amidst wide-spread speculation that he would be fired by Netanyahu", Moshe Ya'alon resigned from his defense minister post. On 12 March 2017, Ya'alon officially relinquished his membership of Likud, announcing that he would form a new party to challenge Netanyahu in the next election. Ya'alon registered Telem on 2 January 2019. Telem announced an alliance with Israel Resilience on 29 January 2019.
Yesh Atid
Yesh Atid was founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, running on a platform representing the centre of Israeli society. In 2013, it placed second in the general election, winning 19 seats. It then entered into a coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud. In the lead-up to the 2015 election, Lapid's campaign continued to emphasize economic issues, while heavily criticizing Netanyahu and his Likud party. Receiving 11 seats, they placed fourth and sat in the opposition.
Platform and positions
On 25 February 2019, Lapid stated that the alliance wished to amend the Nation-State Bill, intending to add a civil equality article. Blue and White's manifesto was released on 6 March 2019. The document reveals positions on several policy areas, key among them a commitment to engage with peace-minded Arab neighbors and a willingness to enter into negotiations with the Palestinians, albeit without land concessions.
Policies included limiting the prime minister to eight years or three terms and preventing anyone convicted of a serious crime from being a public official. The alliance stated that they would return money previously taken by political parties in behind-the-scene deals and using it to reduce the cost of health care, education, and living. A diplomatic initiative for peace with the Palestinians was put forward. The alliance also supported the right of citizens to marry, divorce, parent, and be buried according to their specific beliefs, and the responsibility of all citizens to serve in the army, regardless of their religious levels.
During its March 2019 campaign, the alliance's platform included the following pledges:
Governmental corruption: Impose term limits on the prime minister to a maximum of three terms or eight years. Indicted or convicted politicians would be barred from running for public office. Gantz abandoned that once he scrapped the bill to ban an indicted person from being given the Prime Ministerial mandate.
Religion and state: The protection of the Jewish identity of the state, as well as the identities of all of its citizens. Civil marriage would be made permissible in some form, allowing people to marry according to their own beliefs. Enforce the 2016 agreement to create an expanded place for egalitarian prayers at the Western Wall, which had been suspended by the Netanyahu government. Gantz abandoned that plan once he entered into a Netanyahu-led government.
Education: Investing in early education and kindergartens and subsidising daycare for young children. English and mathematics would be highly prioritized in elementary, middle, and high school.
Leaders
During the alliance, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid served as co-leaders until the alliance ended in 2020.
During campaigning, there was also an agreement for party leadership in case the alliance succeeded in forming a government, where the main leaders would rotate positions. For the first two years, Gantz would be prime minister while Lapid would be foreign minister and Ya'alon as defence minister. Then for the next two years, Lapid would be prime minister and Gantz as defence minister.