Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem’s Old City (Credit: AP)
Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a campaign centred on security, leadership and accountability for the failures surrounding Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack. Eisenkot entered frontline politics after the October 7 attacks, joining Netanyahu’s war cabinet as an observer. He left after eight months, criticising the prime minister’s leadership and arguing that Israel had failed to achieve its declared objective of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities. He also supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, while saying they should serve Israeli national interests and be legal. He has criticised settler violence against Palestinians and opposed some of the Netanyahu government’s settlement plans, including construction in the E1 area, which critics say would further divide the West Bank.
His military background, personal losses during the Gaza war and criticism of the government’s handling of the October 7 aftermath have shaped his public profile. Eisenkot’s campaign offers voters an alternative to Netanyahu’s leadership without a major shift away from Israel’s hardline security outlook. Opinion polls cited by news agency Reuters show his party leading Netanyahu’s Likud, although Israel’s fragmented political landscape could make forming a government difficult for either leader.