Israelis go to the polls on October 27th and the country’s former top general Gadi Eisenkot, head of the centrist Yashar party, has emerged as the most serious challenger to prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Over recent months, Eisenkot’s Yashar party has become the largest opposition party, overtaking another centrist party, Beyachad (“Together”), led by two former prime ministers, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
The latest polls show Yashar with the same, or slightly more, projected seats as Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. Critically, for the first time, some polls also show a wafer-thin parliamentary majority for anti-Netanyahu bloc parties, which means a coalition could be formed after the election without relying on two Arab parties, which are projected to win about 10 of the 120 seats in the Knesset parliament.
Despite his steady rise in the polls, Eisenkot (66) remains something of an enigma in Israeli politics. He lacks charisma and appears almost awkward in front of the cameras – the polar opposite of Netanyahu – but for many Israelis this is an attraction after two decades of polished sound bites, in Hebrew and flawless English. Eisenkot, in contrast, comes across as humble and genuine.
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He lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza war, of which he himself was a major architect, joining Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet shortly after the start of the Hamas-led invasion. He resigned from the war cabinet in 2024, complaining that the conflict that erupted on October 7th, 2023, was being “conducted in accordance with tactical objectives, without meaningful moves to achieve the strategic objectives”.
Eisenkot said the loss of his youngest son pushed him to take action to make Israel a better country. “We will do everything to be worthy – and make the right decisions for those who sacrificed, your brothers in arms, and for the entire Israeli people,” he said in his eulogy at his son’s funeral.
In September 2025, he launched Yashar (Hebrew for straight, or upright).
The Netanyahu bloc initially focused their campaign on attacking former prime minister and centrist leader Bennett, but they now realise Eisenkot presents the main threat to Israel’s longest-serving prime minister winning another term.
They argue that Eisenkot lacks the experience to lead Israel at such a critical moment – in contrast to the savvy Netanyahu, who has decades of political and diplomatic mileage behind him – warning that he is liable to capitulate in the face of the existential threats.
The right-wing also argue that Eisenkot will be forced to form a coalition with the Arab parties, repeating the mantra: “Eisenkot has no government without the Arab parties.”
Eisenkot was one of nine children in a family of Jewish Moroccan immigrants and grew up in the low-income peripheral cities of Tiberias and Eilat. His working-class Sephardic (Jews who came from Arab countries) background could be a vote-winner, potentially shifting votes from this constituency, which tends to vote disproportionately for Likud and religious parties.
He rose through the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Golani infantry brigade and was appointed by then-prime minister Netanyahu as IDF chief of staff in 2015. His tenure as Israel’s top general was cautious, avoiding unnecessary military adventures, instead focusing on proactive, small-scale operations designed to delay war and deter Israel’s enemies.
Like many senior Israeli generals, Eisenkot entered politics after retirement, joining the centrist National Unity party, led by another top general, Benny Gantz, for the 2022 election. He later served as number two in Gantz’s Blue and White party, before leaving in June 2025 and resigning from the Knesset.
The politics of Yashar fall into the consensus of the Israeli mainstream. Its top priority is establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7th Hamas-led attack, a subject that earned the largest round of applause in Eisenkot’s maiden campaign speech.
Most Israelis want an empowered, independent inquest into the catastrophe, but Netanyahu has resisted the idea, having never admitted personal responsibility.
When asked if he would join a government with Netanyahu, Eisenkot said: “Anyone who had a leadership or command position on October 7th is not fit to hold a leadership position moving forward. Therefore, he is unfit.”
On the Palestinian issue, Eisenkot opposes a two-state solution and supports Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, but only if it is “in accordance with the national interests of the state of Israel and in accordance with the law”. He has described settler violence as “terrorism”.
He advocates military or national service for all citizens, including for the ultra-Orthodox and Israel’s Arab minority. He opposes the controversial judicial overhaul, instigated by the outgoing government, to shift the balance of power from the judiciary to the executive branch.
Eisenkot’s tactics at the moment seem to be to maintain a relatively low profile and avoid over-exposure in the media while also not rocking the boat. It seems to be working. Every week he gains steadily in the polls and a Channel 12 TV survey last week showed 43 per cent preferring Eisenkot as prime minister versus 34 per cent for Netanyahu.
