The rapid dismantling of the Blue and White party last week was intended to relaunch the political brand “Yair Lapid.’’ In fact, even before the original Blue and White party gave up the ghost, Lapid was quick to launch an aggressive campaign against his former partners. His Twitter account fired off a rapid series of opposition tweets about Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, saying things like “Benny Gantz surrendered without a fight and went crawling into the government.” Ever since then, he has continued firing off tweets along those same lines. The more time passes, the clearer it seems that Lapid was eager to put an end to his partnership with Gantz and win back his independence.

The chairman of Yesh Atid (one of the three partners within the Blue and White alliance) is one of Israel’s most focused and diligent politicians, carefully planning his every move. And so, his most recent moves were all part of a larger master plan. He was ready for the impending explosion in the Blue and White “cockpit” (leadership) and contributed in a significant way to its dismantling. Since the breakup, it actually seems as if he has returned to his natural element and is enjoying every minute of his old new life.

In the past few months, Lapid served as No. 2 in the Blue and White party. It wasn’t easy for him to give up his position as leader of a party. When the Blue and White party was formed, he insisted on and received a rotation agreement with Gantz over who would be prime minister had the party won the April 2019 elections. He insisted on it in the second round of elections in September 2019 as well. Then, in the third round of elections, he succumbed to just criticism, abandoned the rotation, and was praised for being pragmatic and mature.

The problem was in the day-to-day dynamics of Lapid’s relationship with Gantz. He was unable to give Gantz the space he needed to maneuver and run Blue and White, and ended up working behind his back. This could be seen in the way that he collaborated with Chairman of Yisrael Beitenu Avigdor Liberman in an attempt to take over the Knesset by cooperating with the Arab Joint List. Gantz was not at all happy about it, but he was pushed into a corner and decided to toe the line. He realized that Lapid was determined to prevent a unity government under any circumstances, no matter what the cost. Then the coronavirus began spreading in Israel and around the world, and Gantz began paving a new path forward, which eventually ended his partnership with Lapid. In the end, both parties wanted this divorce.