Benny Gantz (1st L), Israel's defense minister and leader of the centrist alliance Blue and White, speaks at a joint press conference with former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot (2nd L) and Gideon Sa'ar, the justice minister and leader of the right-wing New Hope party, in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Aug. 14, 2022. The former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot announced on Sunday that he has joined the alliance of two government ministers to run for the November parliamentary elections. The new three-way alliance will be headed by Gantz, with Sa'ar as his second and Eisenkot in the third place. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot announced on Sunday that he has joined the alliance of two government ministers to run for the November parliamentary elections.
Eisenkot said in a statement that he has teamed up with an alliance led by Benny Gantz, Israel's defense minister and leader of the centrist alliance Blue and White, and Gideon Sa'ar, the justice minister and leader of the right-wing New Hope party.
The new three-way alliance will be headed by Gantz, with Sa'ar as his second and Eisenkot in the third place.
Caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is running with his centrist Yesh Atid party, welcomed Eisenkot's decision to join politics.
"I have no doubt he will contribute to the public life," Lapid wrote on Twitter.
Eisenkot left his post as the chief of general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces in 2019.
Israeli lawmakers dissolved parliament on June 30 after the collapse of the coalition government, meaning the country's fifth elections in fewer than four years.
Gantz had served as the chief of staff in the army before Eisenkot, and Sa'ar had been a member of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party.
Both Gantz and Sa'ar were part of the collapsed coalition government composed of eight ideologically diverse parties, which had been united only by the will to oust Netanyahu who is facing a criminal trial in three separate corruption cases. ■
Benny Gantz (C), Israel's defense minister and leader of the centrist alliance Blue and White, and Gideon Sa'ar (R), the justice minister and leader of the right-wing New Hope party, and former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot attend a joint press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Aug. 14, 2022. The former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot announced on Sunday that he has joined the alliance of two government ministers to run for the November parliamentary elections. The new three-way alliance will be headed by Gantz, with Sa'ar as his second and Eisenkot in the third place. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
Benny Gantz (C), Israel's defense minister and leader of the centrist alliance Blue and White, and Gideon Sa'ar (R), the justice minister and leader of the right-wing New Hope party, and former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot attend a joint press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Aug. 14, 2022. The former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot announced on Sunday that he has joined the alliance of two government ministers to run for the November parliamentary elections. The new three-way alliance will be headed by Gantz, with Sa'ar as his second and Eisenkot in the third place. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
Benny Gantz (C), Israel's defense minister and leader of the centrist alliance Blue and White, and Gideon Sa'ar (R), the justice minister and leader of the right-wing New Hope party, and former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot attend a joint press conference in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Aug. 14, 2022. The former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot announced on Sunday that he has joined the alliance of two government ministers to run for the November parliamentary elections. The new three-way alliance will be headed by Gantz, with Sa'ar as his second and Eisenkot in the third place. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
