Blue and White Israel Resilience Party (Hebrew:כחול לבן חוסן לישראל,romanized: Kahol Lavan Hosen LeYisrael,lit. 'Blue and White Resilience for Israel')[9] is acentrist,liberal Zionistpolitical party in Israel founded in December 2018 byBenny Gantz, formerChief of the General Staff of theIsrael Defense Forces.

Israel Resilience Party חוסן לישראל‎
Leader	Benny Gantz
Founded	27 December 2018
Ideology	Liberal Zionism[3]
Political position	Centre[7]
National affiliation	Blue & White (2019–2022) National Unity (since 2022)
Colours	Woodland green
Slogan	Israel before everything[8]
Knesset	6 / 120
Website
bg19.co.il
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

The party first ran in theApril 2019 Knesset elections,^[10] as part of theBlue and White alliance. In the2022 Knesset elections the party ran as part of theNational Unity alliance.

In general, the Israel Resilience Party is mainly regarded as a centrist party; however, it has also been evaluated as "centre-right"^[11] or "centre-left".^[12]

On 16 February 2015, Gantz completed his term asChief of the General Staff and entered a three-year legal cooling-off period in which he could not run for theKnesset, which ended on 2 July 2018.^[13] Subsequently, in September 2018, it was reported that Gantz planned to enter politics.^[14]

On 26 December 2018, the 20th Knesset voted to dissolve itself and hold early elections. A day later, on 27 December, after 109 people signed a list of founders, the party was officially registered with the nameHosen L'Yisrael.^[15]

Telem (the party of former IDF chief of staff and minister of defenseMoshe Ya'alon) formed an alliance with the Israel Resilience Party on 29 January 2019.^[16]

On 7 February 2019, the party and Telem announced seven candidates who will receive prominent spots on their joint slate:Zvi Hauser,Miki Haimovich,Yoaz Hendel,Hili Tropper,Meirav Cohen,Michael Biton, andOrit Farkash-Hacohen.^[17]Michal Cotler-Wunsh, a lawyer and the daughter of former Canadian Justice MinisterIrwin Cotler, will also reportedly be on the list.^[18]

On 21 February 2019, the party announced that it was merging withYesh Atid in order to form a centrist alliance for the upcoming elections,^[19] which was calledBlue and White.^[20] During the April election, Blue and White's coalition won 35 seats, the same number asLikud, but this party was unable to form a new government, and new elections were called forSeptember of the same year.^[21] In the contest, the Blue and White won 33 seats in parliament, one more than Likud, but Israeli PresidentReuven Rivlin first gaveBenjamin Netanyahu the chance to form the new government. Netanyahu was unable to form a government and President Rivlin gave the mandate to Gantz to lead the process,^[22] but Gantz was also unable to secure a coalition, so new elections were called forMarch 2020.^[23] Again, the two political groups had the highest votes. After weeks of party negotiations, already in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic, there was finally an agreement to form an "emergency coalition" between Gantz and Netanyahu that provided that Netanyahu would remain in power for only another 18 months, and then Gantz would assume the position of Israeli prime minister for at least 18 months.^[24] Although the new government was sworn in in May, the Knesset was again dissolved at the end of the year, resulting in the need fornew elections for 2021.^[25] But the Blue and White coalition did not have a good electoral performance, winning eight seats in the Knesset.^[26]

With the call fornew elections for 2022, Gantz led a new political alliance calledNational Unity with the moreright-wingNew Hope party,^[27] winning 12 seats in parliament.^[28] The group was part of the opposition until the outbreak ofGaza war, in which National Unity joined theIsraeli war cabinet and theThirty-seventh government of Israel.^[29]

On 28 August 2023 the party changed its name from "Israel Resilience" to "Blue and White Israel Resilience".^[9]

According to the official registration document handed to the Registrar of Parties on 27 December 2018,^[30] the Israel Resilience Party's goals are:

Continuing to establish and strengthen the State of Israel as aJewish and democratic state in light of theZionist vision, as expressed in theDeclaration of Independence, while determining and changing the national priorities on the following subjects: education, national infrastructure development, agriculture, law and internal security, welfare policy, and peace and security.

In his first campaign speech on 29 January 2019, party leader Gantz described Israel as "a leading high-tech country with a low-tech government that is self-employed". He vowed to provide incentives for entrepreneurs and medical students, "impose harsh sanctions on those who speculatively raise land and housing prices", as well as build and expand more hospitals. Furthermore, he said he will create new jobs in the agriculture sector.

Gantz also focused on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all citizens, and combating violence against women. He promised to "deepen my partnerships with theultra-Orthodox, theArabs, and theDruze" in establishing a civil service for all, in addition to army service.

Regarding national security, Gantz vowed to "strengthen thesettlement blocs and theGolan Heights, from which we will never retreat", also pledging that a "UnitedJerusalem" will forever remain Israel's capital. He said that theJordan Valley should remain as the country's eastern security border, without allowing the Palestinians living beyond theseparation barrier to "endanger our security and our identity as a Jewish state". He said he will strive for peace, mentioning the treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and commending prime ministersMenachem Begin,Yitzhak Rabin, and even his current rivalBenjamin Netanyahu as "patriots". Gantz personally addressedIranian generalQasem Soleimani andHezbollah leaderHassan Nasrallah that he "will not tolerate a threat to Israeli sovereignty", and warnedHamas leader Yahya Sinwar, "I suggest you not test me again."^[31][32]

According to Gantz, he leansright when it comes to security issues,left when it comes to socio-economic issues, andliberal in his economic goals.^[33]

Three victims of alleged sexual abuse criticised the Israel Resilience Party for hiringRonen Tzur as a strategic advisor. Tzur was the media strategist behind a campaign to block the extradition ofMalka Leifer, who faced 74 charges of sex abuse in Melbourne, Australia.^[34]