Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the leading opposition challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the upcoming October 27 election. A 66-year-old son of Moroccan immigrants, Eisenkot brings a background that contrasts sharply with Netanyahu’s Jerusalem upbringing. Growing up in Tiberias and Eilat outside traditional centers of political power, Eisenkot spent four decades in the Israel Defense Forces, enlisting in the Golani Brigade in 1978 and serving as chief of staff from 2015 to 2019.
Eisenkot’s political rise has drawn intense scrutiny, including a recent controversy when TV host Yinon Magal criticized him using remarks that touched on longstanding inequalities between European-origin Jews and Mizrahi Jews. While Netanyahu condemned the remarks, the episode highlighted Eisenkot’s family history as a son of Moroccan immigrants. Israel has never had a Mizrahi prime minister, and if Eisenkot wins, it would mark a historic first.
Eisenkot entered politics in 2022 alongside former chief of staff Benny Gantz. Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, they joined Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet before resigning in June 2024 over the lack of a post-war strategy. The conflict brought personal tragedy for Eisenkot; his 25-year-old youngest son, Gal, was killed fighting in Gaza in December 2023, alongside two of his nephews. In an April 2026 article in Yedioth Ahronoth, Eisenkot wrote that he swore over his son’s grave that the price paid by soldiers would not be in vain, making that promise central to his political mission.
Recent opinion polls project Eisenkot’s Yashar party winning 20 to 23 seats in the 120-member Knesset, placing ahead of Likud and leading Netanyahu in polling for preferred prime minister. However, coalition arithmetic remains challenging. Neither Netanyahu’s bloc of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties nor the anti-Netanyahu bloc is currently on track to reach a 61-seat majority, raising the prospect of political deadlock. Eisenkot has suggested he might attempt to form a minority government sustained externally by Arab parties, though potential right-wing coalition partners could reject that approach.
Campaigning under the banner of his Yashar party—derived from the Hebrew word for straight—Eisenkot promises domestic reform and accountability. He advocates for a state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7 and supports mandatory military or national service for all citizens, challenging the exemptions demanded by ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. On security, however, he remains a hawk who supported military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Within the military, he is associated with the Dahiyeh doctrine of overwhelming force against infrastructure and the campaign between wars strategy. He has criticized Netanyahu for prolonging the Gaza war for political motives and pledged to end Hamas rule within 18 months.
Regarding the Palestinians, Eisenkot previously warned that continued West Bank control risked a bi-national state, but he has since dismissed the two-state solution as delusional without offering an alternative. He opposes formal annexation and illegal outposts, criticized planned building in the E1 area due to international costs, and has vowed to crack down on settler violence and Jewish terrorism.
The election has also drawn international attention, particularly from the United States. President Trump recently endorsed Netanyahu as a warrior prime minister, warning that any alternative would leave the U.S. to confront Iran alone. According to Israeli sources, Eisenkot and other opposition leaders previously urged the White House through intermediaries, including Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, to stay out of the race. An Eisenkot-led government without far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich could potentially offer Washington more flexibility for regional diplomacy and Saudi normalization.
