Levy-Abecassis Knocks Gantz as Talks Fail

Negotiations for a combined election run of Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience and Orly Levy-Abecassis’ Gesher parties were called off on Wednesday.

The Gesher office had expressed optimism about a deal earlier in the week, but when Levy-Abecassis wasn’t included in Gantz’s electoral list announced on Tuesday, it was evident that something was amiss.

Levy said on Wednesday that her party will run independently and knocked Gantz, saying he is “run by others.”

In a statement, she said it is “disappointing that the person promoting clean politics failed his first test — the test of credibility,” without specifying how he failed.

Recent polls have put Gesher around the electoral threshold if it runs alone, which means it might not win any representatives in the next Knesset.

Meanwhile, Gantz and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid reportedly met on Wednesday and are close to closing a deal for a joint ticket in the April elections.