Benny Gantz is an Israeli lawmaker and current minister-without-portfolio, who currently leads the National Unity party.
He was born in Kfar Ahim, a moshav that his parents helped found. His mother was a Holocaust survivor and his father was arrested by British authorities for attempting to enter pre-state Israel.
Gantz was drafted to the IDF in 1977 and served in the 1982 Lebanon war. He also participated in Operation Solomon, a covert mission that rescued Ethiopian Jews in 1991.
After serving as the IDF's chief of staff, in 2018 Gantz announced the formation of a new political party, what would later become Blue and White. He would eventually become the country's defense minister before joining the opposition and then rejoining an emergency government due to the war against Hamas.
He earned a history degree from Tel Aviv University, a Political Science masters degree from Haifa University and a National Resource Management master’s degree from the United States National Defense University.
He and his wife, Revital, live in Rosh Ha’ayin.
