Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a point to check the popularity of former IDF chief of staff and current Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, especially since Ashkenazi left the Israel Defense Forces in 2011. Netanyahu was worried that Ashkenazi would dive into politics and run against him for prime minister. After all, he was one of the most popular chiefs of staff in the country’s history.
Ashkenazi was courted by the center-left, desperate to find its next leader. Renowned for having rebuilt the IDF after the devastating Second Lebanon War, he was also a rugged man of the people who appealed to Israelis across the political spectrum. He was so popular that local mayors named streets and squares after him.
