How Covid-19 and Benny Gantz saved Netanyahu

Perhaps there’s no country in the world where the novel coronavirus has had more of an immediate political impact than Israel. What three elections in barely a year could not accomplish — the formation of a government — a virus could.

But Covid-19 had help from a patriotic and risk-averse Benny Gantz, who ran last year, as leader of the Blue and White party, against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

Gantz handed Netanyahu a near-perfect arrangement that will allow him to remain the most powerful political figure in Israel for the next 18 months, if not beyond.

Unlike for most leaders in the world, for Netanyahu Covid-19 presented both a challenge and an opportunity. He rose to the first and exploited the second.

MORE: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/27/opinions/aaron-david-miller-netanyahu-gantz-covid-19/index.html

How Covid-19 and Benny Gantz saved Netanyahu