Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz posted a message Saturday evening aimed at persuading his supporters to back and vote for his party, against the backdrop of polls showing it failing to clear the electoral threshold.
“When you see the ballot slip reading ‘Blue and White led by Benny Gantz’ at the polling station, you should know that we examined the data and stand behind the decision to run,” Gantz wrote.
Sources close to Gantz said the goal is to persuade his supporters to vote for him in the election scheduled for the end of the month, while also assuring them that he will not allow their votes to go to waste. The assessment is that if Gantz is not confident Blue and White will clear the electoral threshold, he ultimately will not run.
Benny Gantz must persuade his supporters to vote for him while also assuring them that he will not allow their votes to go to waste
(Photo: Yuval Chen)
Gantz’s campaign headquarters faces a difficult dilemma. Setting aside the issue of the electoral threshold, Gantz is convinced he has enough support to enter the Knesset. The question, from his perspective, is how to convince voters that he will clear the threshold.
As he wrote Saturday evening: “In recent weeks, we have met many people across the country and heard the same sentence again and again: ‘I want to vote for you, but I’m afraid of wasting my vote.’
“According to our research, more than five seats’ worth of voters want to vote Blue and White. Fear of the electoral threshold is the only barrier. They convinced you that you are alone — but together we are a major force. If everyone who believes in our path votes, we will clear the threshold by a wide margin,” he said in a video he posted.
Gantz also hinted that he would not run at any cost or risk wasting his supporters’ votes.
“When you see our ballot slip at the polling station, you should know that we examined the data and stand behind the decision to run. Your trust is sacred to me, and that is why your votes are safe,” he said.