It was established by the Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid and Telem to run in the April 2019 Knesset election,[6] in hopes of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[8] Following the March 2020 elections, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz was tasked with forming a new government after receiving endorsements from a majority of 61 MKs.

[9] Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Gantz instead opted to put himself forward as interim Speaker of the Knesset while continuing negotiations to form a coalition government with Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and other parties.

[13] After that coalition collapsed the following year, the party formed an alliance with the Gideon Sa'ar-led New Hope called National Unity, which was led by Gantz.

[25][10] The fact that right-wingers in Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition agreed to support Gantz's bid to become Speaker put the future of the Blue and White alliance in jeopardy.

[27] On 27 March 2020, it was revealed that a major obstacle to a potential long-term alliance between Gantz and Netanyahu emerged with regards to implementing U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan.

[35] The same day, both Blue and White and Likud issued a joint statement claiming that the new unity government would be sworn in the following week.

[38] On 10 July 2022, Gantz and Gideon Sa'ar agreed to sign a joint faction agreement,[39] under the overall name Blue and White The New Hope.

[40] The following month, the alliance was joined by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and former Yamina MK Matan Kahana and was renamed National Unity.

While not being formally part of it, the Israeli Labor Party and Derekh Eretz worked with the alliance on a parliamentary basis during the term of the twenty-third Knesset.

[40] On 16 February 2015, Benny Gantz completed his term as Chief of Staff and began a three-year legal moratorium in which he could not run for the Knesset.

In the lead-up to the 2015 election, Lapid's campaign continued to emphasize economic issues, while heavily criticizing Netanyahu and his Likud party.

[53] On 25 February 2019, Lapid stated that the alliance wished to amend the Nation-State Bill, intending to add a civil equality article.

The document reveals positions on several policy areas, key among them a commitment to engage with peace-minded Arab neighbors and a willingness to enter into negotiations with the Palestinians, albeit without land concessions.

[citation needed] Policies included limiting the prime minister to eight years or three terms and preventing anyone convicted of a serious crime from being a public official.

[56] The alliance stated that they would return money previously taken by political parties in behind-the-scene deals and using it to reduce the cost of health care, education, and living.