Netanyahu Rival Gets Points for Looks, Pundits Say
Standing taller than 190 centimeters, the former Israeli general turned politician Benny Gantz can become one of the world’s tallest leaders if elected
16:2925.03.19
Standing tall at 191 centimeters, the former Israeli general turned politician Benny Gantz can become one of the world’s tallest leaders if elected, as he is taller than both U.S. President Trump and Canada’s Trudeau. While a coalition led by four term incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu still seems like a likely result of the election to take place April 9, Gantz, as some pundits have it, has a major electoral asset: his stature and good looks.
Benny Gantz. Photo: Alex Kolomvisky Speaking on a Channel 10 broadcast, Israeli journalist and political commentator Raviv Drucker said Gantz is the “most handsome” candidate Israel has seen. “He looks so handsome, he looks like a Harrison Ford, and that’s an asset for his campaign,” Druker went on to say.
59-year-old Gantz served as the Israeli military’s chief of staff between 2011 and 2015, a period which included the 2014 Gaza War. Several short videos published by his campaign managers touted his military achievements, counting among them the killing of “1,364 terrorists” during the 2014 Gaza War, and “sending some parts of Gaza back to the Stone Age.”
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Israeli journalist Ayala Hasson described Gantz as a “towering, blue-eyed” figure. Benny Gantz. Photo: Alex Kolomvisky In an October broadcast, Channel 10 reporter Miki Michaeli called Gantz “a very, very handsome man,” who “may get women’s votes.”
In February, Israeli satirical show Gav Hauma aired a sketch titled “10 ways Gantz can fix Israel’s problems with his good looks.”
Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party is leading Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party by four seats, polls released by Israel’s Channel 12 and Channel 13 news Sunday indicated. Both polls show that Blue and White leads with 32 seats over Likud’s 28 seats.
Israeli voters cast a ballot ticket for a political party, not a candidate. While only twice in Israel’s history was an elected prime minister not the head of the party with the most parliamentary seats, current polls indicate a right-wing coalition as the most likely outcome.
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He joined forces with Israeli centrist politician Yair Lapid in February to form the current poll-leader Blue and White party.
Addressing AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington D.C. Monday, Gantz said he would negotiate peace with “any honest Arab leader”. Under his leadership, Jerusalem will remain united as Israel’s capital, he said.
