The bloody war of attrition between the two Benjamins, Netanyahu and Gantz, lasted more than a year, pitting their respective parties, the Likud and Blue and White, representing the two halves of the Israeli electorate, against each other. Their all-out war, spanning three tense election campaigns, was waged on the streets and in homes, in halls and stadiums, in the political arena and cyberspace.
The war turned particularly nerve-racking after the March 2 elections for the 23rd Knesset. The pugilists were exhausted. Israel had already been drawn into the coronavirus crisis while Netanyahu and Gantz clinched on the ropes, praying for a bell to save them. At 3:30 pm on March 26, Gantz blinked first and agreed to a power-sharing government with Netanyahu. He decided to cut his losses and accept the best terms he could wring from him, obtaining a firm date to replace Netanyahu as prime minister: October 2021, just around the corner.
