17 million, run: The reason Benny Gantz can continue to run
A sharp political confrontation erupted between Yisrael Beiteinu and Blue and White over Benny Gantz's decision to continue his election campaign, despite polls predicting his party will not pass the electoral threshold. Gantz benefits from a party funding budget of 17.25 million shekels, giving him financial leeway. MK Yulia Malinovsky harshly attacked him, calling his run "pathetic and wasteful." Blue and White responded with a counterattack, calling Yisrael Beiteinu "the most corrupt party in Israel's history" and accusing Lieberman of planning a government with Balad.
A sharp political confrontation erupted this morning (Wednesday) between the Yisrael Beiteinu party and the Blue and White party, over the decision of Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz to continue running in the elections despite the fact that his party does not pass the electoral threshold in any of the recent polls. The background to the confrontation is based on the 1973 Party Funding Law, which provides ongoing and special funding to factions represented in the Knesset. By virtue of this law, Gantz holds party funding in the amount of 17.25 million shekels, a remnant of his faction's significant achievement in the previous elections. This figure is at the center of the attack against Gantz, with claims that the campaign continues solely to exhaust the public budget. Member of Knesset Yulia Malinovsky from Yisrael Beiteinu harshly attacked Gantz on her Twitter account, calling his run "pathetic and wasteful of the money of Israeli citizens." According to her, Gantz chooses to waste about 15 million shekels of public funds on advertising and public relations, out of personal whims and ego. She noted that while this is not money laundering on a criminal level, it constitutes "laundering in the public sense," and concluded by stating that the move "stinks terribly." The Blue and White party did not remain indebted and published a harsh response, in which they called Yisrael Beiteinu "the most corrupt party in Israel's history." Furthermore, Blue and White accused Yisrael Beiteinu of attempting "fraud and breach of public trust" aimed at paving the way for establishing a government relying on Arab parties, and that Avigdor Lieberman pushed as early as 2020 to form a government with Balad.