Benny Gantz aims to have broad appeal with message of ‘no more right and left’

Israel’s former military chief Benny Gantz has officially launched his election campaign by promising to unseat the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he accused of running a “regime” that “encourages incitement, subversion and hatred”.

“We all need a government that solves our real problems and is not preoccupied with itself,” Gantz said during his maiden rally, scheduled for Israel’s primetime television slot. “I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his service for 10 years. We will continue from here.”

Opinion polls suggest Gantz is Netanyahu’s only credible challenger, despite having until now revealed almost none of his political beliefs. After he moved himself into politics in December, polls signalled that his new party, Israel Resilience, could win a critical number of seats in the 9 April general election.

The retired general has already created a buzz among an electorate that analysts say often votes on personality rather than policy and has a strong penchant for military credentials.

Israel Resilience released a jingle on Tuesday with the slogan “there is no more right and left, there is only Israel before everything”, and Gantz is expected to seek alliances with both sides in a political system favouring coalition governments.

Head of the army from 2011 to 2015, including during two wars in the Gaza Strip, Gantz has sought to appease Israel’s militaristic rightwing. A short clip released by his party this month showed a bomb-flattened neighbourhood in Gaza after the 2014 war he led against the strip’s rulers, Hamas.

“Only the strong wins,” reads text on the video, which says Israel killed more than 1,364 “terrorists” and destroyed 6,231 targets in the war. According to a scathing United Nations investigation, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed in the 50-day conflict, more than half of them civilians, contradicting Gantz’s figures. Seventy-three people, the vast majority of them military personnel, died on the Israeli side.

A Palestinian film company based in Gaza later said the footage, originally filmed to document the damage caused by Israeli bombings, had been “stolen” by Gantz’s team without permission.

Army service is compulsory in Israel and the country has a tradition of senior military figures entering politics. Two chiefs of staff have become prime ministers: Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak.

Gantz is seen as a serious contender to threaten Netanyahu’s reputation as “Mr Security”, a nickname the prime minister’s supporters use. But Netanyahu’s allies have written off Gantz as a “leftist” and will seek to highlight any signs of restraint from him on Israel’s myriad security challenges.

In another campaign video, Gantz says there is “no shame in yearning for peace”, although he adds that Israeli soldiers will probably be fighting for the next 50 years.

The general-turned-politician promised that his government would strive to make deals. But he added that if peace did not happen, he would strengthen settlements in the occupied West Bank – regarded as illegal by the international community.

Orit Galili-Zucker, who has advised both Netanyahu and his rivals on political communications, said Gantz was adopting a strategy of ambiguity to try to woo rightwing and centre-left voters. “The reason why polls are high for Gantz is because he brings something new, he is shaking the political arena,” she said.

Netanyahu is the second longest-serving premier in the country’s history, having won four general elections since 1996. He remains the top contender by far to gather the most seats in the 120-seat Knesset and form a coalition.

Polls suggest Netanyahu’s Likud party will take around 30 seats in April, with Gantz’s Resilience party second on 15. Netanyahu would then need to make an alliance, possibly including with Gantz who could be offered a conciliatory ministerial position, to form a 61-seat majority government.

However, one of Netanyahu’s biggest election hurdles is a slew of corruption charges. In three cases, police have recommended he be indicted for bribery. Israel’s attorney general is expected to announce his decision on whether to charge Netanyahu before election day. The premier would not be required to step down if indicted.

Despite the allegations, which he rejects as a “witch-hunt”, Netanyahu has held on to power through deals with ultra-nationalists and religious parties.

In a jab at Netanyahu, Gantz said in his speech: “No Israeli leader is a king.

“More and more people, both right and left, myself included, are deeply embarrassed by the way our leadership conducts itself.”