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Benjamin "Benny" Gantz
Benny Gantz, 2011
Native name	Template:Hebrew
Nickname(s)	Benny
Born	(1959-06-09) 9 June 1959 (age 65) Moshav Kfar Ahim, Israel
Allegiance	Israel
Service / branch	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1977–2015
Rank	Rav Aluf (Lieutenant general; highest rank)
Unit	Paratroopers Brigade
Commands	890 "Efe" (Echis) Airborne Battalion (1987–1989) Shaldag Unit (1989–1992) Reserve Paratroopers Brigade (1992–1994) Judea Regional Brigade (1994–1995) Paratroopers Brigade (1995–1997) "Etgar" Division (1998–1999) Lebanon Liaison Unit (1999–2000) Northern Corps (2001), Judea and Samaria Division (2000–2002) Northern Command (2002–2005) Ground Forces Command (2005–2007) Military Attaché in the United States (2007–2009) Deputy Chief of General Staff (2009 – November 2010) Chief of the General Staff (14 February 2011 – 16 February 2015)
Battles / wars	1978 South Lebanon conflict 1982 Lebanon War, South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) First Intifada Second Intifada 2006 Lebanon War Operation Summer Rains Operation Cast Lead Operation Pillar of Defense Operation Protective Edge
Awards	Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Benjamin "Benny" Gantz (Template:Lang-he-n; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and general, and was the 20th Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (14 February 2011 – 16 February 2015). In December 2018, he established a new political party named Israel Resilience (Hosen L'Yisrael).

Early life

Gantz was born in Kfar Ahim, Israel, in 1959. His mother Malka was a Holocaust survivor, originally from Mezőkovácsháza, Hungary. His father Nahum was from Romania, and was arrested by the British for trying to enter Palestine illegally before reaching Israel. His parents were among the founders of Kfar Ahim. In his youth, he attended the Shafir High School in Merkaz Shapira and boarding school at the HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat HaSharon.

Military service

Gantz was drafted into the IDF in 1977. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade. His first mission as a young conscript in 1977 was as part of the security detail for Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel. In 1979 Gantz became an officer after completing Officer Candidate School. In 1991 he commanded the commando unit that was on the ground in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for 36 hours, securing the Operation Solomon airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. During his career, Gantz has served in a number of roles, including: Commander of the Shaldag Unit in the Israeli Air Force; Commander of the 35th Paratroopers Brigade; Commander of the Reserves Division in the Northern Command; Commander of the Lebanon Liaison Unit; Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division in 2000, before becoming the Commander of the Israeli Northern Command in 2001; and as Israel's military attaché in the United States from 2005 until 2009, before becoming the Deputy Chief of the General Staff. He served in the 1978 South Lebanon conflict, 1982 Lebanon War, the 1985-2000 South Lebanon conflict, Operation Solomon, and the Second Intifada.

Gantz has received a number of degrees during his military service. He is a graduate of the IDF Command and Headquarters College and the National Security College. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Tel Aviv University, a master's degree in political science from the University of Haifa, and an additional Master's Degree in National Resources Management from the National Defense University in the United States.

Chief of Staff

Following the canceled appointment of previous nominee Aluf Yoav Galant, Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced on 5 February 2011 that he will be recommending to the government that Gantz be appointed the 20th Chief of the General Staff (after the pending approval by the Turkel Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments and a government vote).

On 13 February 2011, the Israeli government unanimously approved Gantz to be the next IDF chief of staff. According to the Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Gantz was an "excellent officer and experienced commander, and had rich operational and logistical experience, with all the attributes needed to be a successful army commander".

On 14 February 2011, Gantz assumed command as the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

In his first year as Chief of the General Staff, Gantz appointed the IDF's first-ever female major-general, Orna Barbivai.

In July 2011, Gantz appointed a special committee to address a controversy that had developed concerning mention of the word Elohim, "God", in the military Yizkor prayer. The committee determined that a disputed passage should read Yizkor 'Am Yisrael, "May the Nation of Israel remember", and not Yizkor Elohim, "May God remember". Gantz upheld the committee's ruling.

Gantz has called on the IDF to be ready for a new ground invasion of Gaza.

Gantz commanded the IDF when it fought against Palestinian factions in Gaza in the campaigns Operation Pillar of Defense and Operation Protective Edge.

Controversies

Building on public land allegations

A report in the Israeli daily Yisrael Hayom from March 2010 charged Gantz with illegally extending the perimeter of his yard by several feet to encompass a small plot of land that had been designated public property and subsequently building on it. "The Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Benny Gantz, invaded a public land area adjacent to his home in Rosh HaAyin, illegally and without a permit and a license constructed a nice and wide deck on public land next to his house's yard, enclosed it with a pretty wooden fence - and broke the law." The report included photos of the alleged violations. Gantz admitted to the facts, but claimed that the public land in question was not, and could not be, accessible for use by the public. Two months after town hall officials notified him of the violation, the deck was disassembled and removed.

In February 2011, following the government's decision to promote Gantz to Chief of the General Staff, Attorney Avi'ad Vissuli of the Forum for the Land of Israel submitted a formal objection to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and to Judge Ya'akov Turkel, demanding that the appointment be revoked. Vissuli compared the violations attributed to Gantz to the controversial property violations of Major General Yoav Galant.

Death of Corporal Madhat Yusuf

On 1 October 2000, a group of armed Palestinians attacked Joseph's Tomb in present-day Nablus, and a Palestinian sniper shot Corporal Madhat Yusuf, a Druze IDF soldier guarding the tomb. The Palestinian Authority agreed to evacuate Yusuf to safety, but their security forces failed to arrive, and Yusuf bled to death after four hours. Yusuf's relatives have blamed Gantz, who was Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division at that time, for what they consider to have been a preventable tragedy. The Turkel Committee charged with reviewing Gantz's qualifications vis-à-vis his planned appointment to Chief of the General Staff, determined that Gantz "was not the most senior ranking commander at the scene, and there were operational as well as political considerations involved in the incident for which he was not responsible".

Tech company closure

Benny Gantz had operated The Fifth Dimension as a Chief executive, a promising computer security and law enforcement technology company. The company closed due to financial reasons after its Russian investor was sanctioned by the United States during the Special Counsel investigation into Russian attempts to interfere with the US election.

Political views and career

In December 2018, Gantz announced his intention to form a new political party, but did not originally disclose his views or name of the organization. Polls have demonstrated fluctuating support for the party. On 27 December 2018, Gantz formally established his own party named the Israel Resilience Party ("Hosen LeYisrael" in Hebrew), which will run in the 2019 Israeli legislative election.

On January 29, 2019, Gantz gave his first major political speech. Gantz pledged to strengthen Israeli settlement blocs and said that Israel would never leave the Golan Heights. He neither endorsed nor rejected a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The Jordan Valley will be our border, but we won’t let millions of Palestinians living beyond the fence to endanger our identity as a Jewish state,” he said.

Gantz had previously contributed to writing a unilateral separation plan for the Institute of National Security Studies which called for the unilateral creation of a contiguous Palestinian "entity" on about 65% of the West Bank and a freeze to construction in settlements outside the major settlement blocs that Israel expects to retain in a future peace agreement with the Palestinians in order to stave off the perceived threat of a ], which the plan termed as being an existential threat to Israel along with a nuclear ].

At the end of his speech, Gantz announced an electoral alliance with former minister of defense and IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon.

Family and personal life

Gantz is married to Revital and is a father of four. He lives in Rosh HaAyin.

References

1. ^ "Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz Appointed 20th IDF Chief of the General Staff". Israel Defense Forces. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
2. ^ Haaretz Service (14 February 2011). "Gantz takes over as IDF chief: I am ready to face the challenges". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
3. Moran Azulay (27 December 2018). "Benny Gantz registers new political party". Ynetnews.
4. Wootliff, Raoul. "Surrounded by idioms: How campaign slogans get lost in English translation". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
5. Israel commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day, Haaretz 8 April 2013
6. In Auschwitz, Israeli army chief vows to prevent a ‘second Holocaust’, The Times of Israel 8 April 2013
7. "גנץ ונתניהו נפגשו והתחברו למקורות ולשורשים". ערוץ 7.
8. Pfeffer, Anshel (28 January 2019). "The General Coming to End the Netanyahu Era". Haaretz. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
9. Pfeffer, Anshel (28 January 2019). "The General Coming to End the Netanyahu Era". Haaretz. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
10. Avihai Becker, Generally Sensitive, Haaretz, 24 April 2002.
11. ^ "New Deputy Chief of the General Staff Appointed" (Press release). IDF Spokesperson's Website. 12 July 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2011. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
12. "IDF chief announces new appointments to General Staff" from Haaretz Google cache version
13. Greenberg, Hanan (5 February 2011). "Gantz set to be named 20th IDF chief". Ynet. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
14. Ravid, Barak (13 February 2011). "Benny Gatz becomes IDF's 20th chief of staff". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
15. Keinon, Herb (13 February 2011). "Gantz appointment as IDF chief sails through cabinet". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
16. "Newly Appointed Head of the Personnel Directorate, GOC Northern Command, GOC Home Front Command". IDF Spokesperson's Unit. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011. Brig. Gen. Orna Barbivay will be promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed Head of the Personnel Directorate, replacing Maj. Gen. Avi Zamir, who will end his service in the IDF.
17. "Israeli military appoints first female major general". Monsters and Critics. Tel Aviv. Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has promoted the first female major general in its 63-year history, a military spokesman announced Thursday night. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
18. Katz, Yaakov (4 August 2011). "IDF panel keeps God out of Yizkor prayer". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 August 2011. The IDF will retain the original wording of the Yizkor memorial prayer with "Yizkor Am Yisrael" (May the People of Israel Remember), and not "Yizkor Elohim" (May God Remember), a military committee tasked with ruling on the issue announced on Thursday.
19. "General Gantz at the 13th Herzliya Conference: Chances of War Breaking Out are Low but Probability of Deterioration is rising". Defense Update. 11 March 2013.
20. Sherwood, Harriet (28 December 2011). "Israel 'will launch significant Gaza offensive sooner or later'". The Guardian.
21. Yossi Arazi and Gal Perl Finkel, Integrating Technologies to Protect the Home Front against Ballistic Threats and Cruise Missiles, "Military and Strategic Affairs", Volume 5, No. 3, December 2013.
22. Navon, Eran (5 March 2010). שטח משוחרר - הוחזר [Liberated Land - Returned]. Yisrael Hayom (in Hebrew). Retrieved 7 February 2011.
23. Sharvit, Noam (7 February 2011). פנייה ליועץ: פסול מינוי גנץ בשל עבירות בנייה [Petition to the Attorney General: Revoke Gantz's Appointment in Light of Building Violations] (in Hebrew). NRG (Ma'ariv). Retrieved 7 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. Tzuk, Dana (7 February 2011). המטה למען א"י נגד האלוף גנץ [The Forum for the Land of Israel V. Major General Gantz] (in Hebrew). GLZ (Army Radio). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
25. Ravid, Barak (10 February 2011). ועדת טירקל אישרה את מינוי גנץ למרות "פגמים בהתנהלות" [Turkel Committee Approves Gantz Appointment Despite Flaws in Conduct]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 10 February 2011.
26. "Family of fallen soldier considers petition against Gantz". Jerusalem Post. 6 February 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
27. "Brother of Slain Druze Soldier: Gantz Not Worthy to Run Israel | Hamodia.com". Hamodia. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
28. Hoffman, Gil. (16 December 2018). "Did Stormy Daniels cause Benny Gantz's Cyber Company to close shop?" Jerusalem Post website Retrieved 16 December 2018.
29. "Israeli Startup Headed by Ex-top Security Officials Shuts Due to Link With Sanctioned Oligarch". Haaretz. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
30. Asa-El, Amotz. (22 December 2018). "The other Benjamin-Will Israeli politics be saved by one-more general?". Jerusalem Post website Retrieved 23 December 2018.
31. Mualem, Mazal. (21 November 2018). "Former IDF head spooks Israel's entire political spectrum". Al-Monitor website Retrieved 23 December 2018.
32. Hoffman, Gil. (25 December 2018). "Poll finds Gantz's political party in free fall." Jerusalem Post website Retrieved 27 December 2018.
33. "Former IDF chief names new party: 'Israel's Resilience'". WIN. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
34. staff, T. O. I. "Breaking political silence, Gantz indicates he won't serve under indicted PM". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
35. staff, T. O. I. "Breaking political silence, Gantz indicates he won't serve under indicted PM". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
36. Gross, Judah Ari. "Proposal would split Israel from Palestinians – but don't call it a peace plan". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
37. "Gantz: Current leadership is divisive, I won't join Netanyahu if indicted - Israel Elections - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
38. "Benny Gantz, Netanyahu Rival, Gives Campaign Launch Speech - Full English Transcript". Haaretz. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.

v t e Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
Yaakov Dori (1947–1949) Yigael Yadin (1949–1952) Mordechai Maklef (1952–1953) Moshe Dayan (1953–1958) Haim Laskov (1958–1961) Tzvi Tzur (1961–1964) Yitzhak Rabin (1964–1968) Haim Bar-Lev (1968–1972) David Elazar (1972–1974) Mordechai Gur (1974–1978) Rafael Eitan (1978–1983) Moshe Levi (1983–1987) Dan Shomron (1987–1991) Ehud Barak (1991–1995) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1995–1998) Shaul Mofaz (1998–2002) Moshe Ya'alon (2002–2005) Dan Halutz (2005–2007) Gabi Ashkenazi (2007–2011) Benny Gantz (2011–2015) Gadi Eizenkot (2015–2019) Aviv Kohavi (2019–2023) Herzi Halevi (2023–)

v t e Deputy Chiefs of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
Tzvi Ayalon (1948–1949) Mordechai Maklef (1949–1952) Haim Laskov (1955–1956) Tzvi Tzur (1958) Yitzhak Rabin (1961–1963) Haim Bar-Lev (1967–1968) Israel Tal (1973) Yekutiel Adam (1978–1982) Moshe Levi (1982–1983) David Ivry (1983–1985) Dan Shomron (1985–1986) Amir Drori (1986–1987) Ehud Barak (1987–1991) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (1991–1994) Matan Vilnai (1994–1997) Shaul Mofaz (1997–1998) Uzi Dayan (1998–1999) Moshe Ya'alon (1999–2002) Gabi Ashkenazi (2002–2004) Dan Halutz (2004–2005) Moshe Kaplinsky (2005–2007) Dan Harel (2007–2009) Benny Gantz (2009–2010) Yair Naveh (2010–2013) Gadi Eizenkot (2013–2014) Yair Golan (2014–2017) Aviv Kohavi (2017–2018) Eyal Zamir (2018–2021) Herzi Halevi (2021–2022) Amir Baram (2022–)

v t e Heads of Northern Command
Carmel (1948–1949) Avidar (1949–1952) Dayan (1952) Simhoni (1952–1954) Tzadok (1954–1956) Rabin (1956–1959) Zorea (1959–1962) Yoffe (1962–1964) Elazar (1964–1969) Gur (1969–1972) Hofi (1972–1974) Gur (1974) Eitan (1974–1977) Ben-Gal (1977–1981) Drori (1981–1983) Orr (1983–1986) Peled (1986–1991) Mordechai (1991–1994) Levin (1994–1998) Ashkenazi (1998–2002) Gantz (2002–2005) Adam (2005–2006) Eizenkot (2006–2011) Golan (2011–2014) Kochavi (2014–2017) Strick (2017–2019) Baram (2019–2022) Gordin (2022–current)

• Chiefs of the General Staff (Israel)
• 1959 births
• Israeli generals
• Living people
• Tel Aviv University alumni
• Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
• University of Haifa alumni
• Commanders of the Legion of Merit
• Children of Holocaust survivors
• Israeli politicians
• Israeli chief executives