(JTA) – A leading rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a step toward running in Israeli elections called for April 9. Benny Gantz, the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, hasn’t declared a run for office yet, but recently he registered his own political party. The Hosen LeYisrael party will be known in English as the Israel Resilience Party. Gantz has not issued any kind of political platform or said what kind of political outlook a party led by him would have. But ex-military leaders like him have proven popular at the polls, and few long-time opposition politicians appear to have emerged from the pack of potential rivals. Several existing parties courted Gantz to run with them in the upcoming election. The center-left Zionist Union – which includes Labor – reported offered him the position of party leader. Gantz, 59, served in the IDF as a career army official. Commanding several units, including special operations units, before serving as the head of Israel’s military from 2011 to 2015.

Israel’s Knesset voted unanimously on Dec. 20 to dissolve and go to early elections. Netanyahu, the subject of corruption investigations, is still expected to be at the top of the Likud ticket. The party will hold its primary in early February.

CAP: Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz speaks at the annual World Zionist Conference in Jerusalem on Nov. 2, 2017. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)