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Two heads pull Israel’s Blue and White in opposite directions

Unlike Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, his colleague Yair Lapid has no intention of keeping low profile.
Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, leaders of Blue and White party, sit during a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern - RC1BFEF7E3E0
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When Blue and White Party chairman Benny Gantz completed his first address to the Knesset May 13, the first person to jump up and rush to the podium to congratulate him was number two on his list, Knesset member Yair Lapid. It was hard to miss Lapid’s gesture, which included a warm hug followed by a pat on the back. He looked like a teacher glowing with pride after his student passed his rhetoric exam with flying colors. From the sidelines, at least, it looked like the two men had a cordial relationship. The same was true of a photo Gantz posted to Twitter shortly before his speech. It showed him and Lapid sitting together, smiling and acting like old buddies. “The Knesset in action,” Gantz wrote in the caption.

Blue and White was established before the April 9 election. Lapid’s Yesh Atid partnered with Gantz’ new Israel Resilience Party, a union that won them 35 Knesset seats. But will the strong pre-election partnership survive? The problem is that beneath the surface — and more recently, above it as well — a very different picture seems to be emerging, one of growing tension within the party’s leadership. Apparently, the main source of this tension is differences of opinion over the practical strategy that the largest opposition party should adopt. So the public gestures and Monday’s tweets should be taken with a healthy dose of suspicion.

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