Right after Israel Resilience head Benny Gantz launched his election campaign, Hatnua suffered a final collapse in the polls. Gantz’ party almost doubled its strength within a day at the expense of the other center-left parties. Inevitably, the headlines referred to the phenomenon as the “Gantz effect.” Its main victims were the Labor Party, which plunged to the single-digit range; Yesh Atid, which lost several precious seats; and Knesset member Tzipi Livni's Hatnua, which was just within arm’s reach of the electoral threshold.
Labor chair Avi Gabbay delivered the first blow when he ended their partnership on camera Jan. 1, splitting the Zionist Camp alliance. Then Gantz stepped in with the death stroke.