Gantz and Dadi Shmihi May Run Together in Upcoming Election

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and former Fire and Rescue commissioner Dadi Shmihi are expected to announce in the coming days that they will run together in the next election, according to a report Wednesday evening on Kan News. The announcement could come as soon as Thursday, but the two are waiting for answers from other political figures before making it official.

Shmihi responded that he is “working without boycotts and without disqualifications, but there is nothing yet to announce.” Blue and White said that Gantz is speaking with all political leaders and that “boycotts need to come to an end.”

Last month, at a Shabbat cultural event hosted by Liat Regev, Shmihi said he would run in the upcoming Knesset election. “Let’s take this country to where it needs to go,” he said then, adding, “I say we need to put things in order in the country, and I am someone with a proven record of putting things in order.”

Shmihi’s last IDF post was as head of the Home Front Command staff, and later he served as the chief fire and rescue commissioner. His son Guy, who served in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, was killed in the October 7 battles. Shmihi later recovered his son’s body from Kibbutz Re'im in the Gaza border area. A separate Kan News poll released Tuesday night showed Yesh! led by former Blue and White partner Gadi Eisenkot gaining four seats and widening its lead over the Together party of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, while Likud slipped by one seat from the previous poll.