TEL AVIV — His slogan contends that “there is no more left or right.” The list of candidates he’s running with includes a hawkish former Likud defense minister and a hawkish former Likud government secretary. In his first speech as a candidate, he vowed to keep the Jordan Valley “our eastern security border” and to “maintain security in the entire land of Israel,” by which he means the West Bank. A campaign video credits him with sending parts of Gaza “back to the Stone Age.”

Despite all this, Gen. Benny Gantz, a former Israeli Army chief of staff and a newly minted politician, is the candidate of Israel’s left of center for the April 9 general election. He is the candidate of what used to be called the “peace camp.”

And it turns out that his party has a good chance of winning. Last week, Mr. Gantz and Yair Lapid, who for the last seven years led the Yesh Atid party, announced that they are joining forces in a new party of parties they call Kahol Lavan, or Blue and White, the colors of Israel’s flag. Mr. Gantz and Mr. Lapid will, if they win, take turns serving as prime minister, beginning with two and a half years of Mr. Gantz. Polls predict a close race, with Kahol Lavan surging in recent days.

Read more