{"id":551967,"date":"2026-07-21T08:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T08:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551967\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T08:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T08:21:13","slug":"this-anti-netanyahu-candidate-is-leading-israels-polls-can-he-succeed-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551967\/","title":{"rendered":"This \u2018anti-Netanyahu\u2019 candidate is leading Israel\u2019s polls. Can he succeed? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israelis go to the polls on October 27th and the country\u2019s former top general Gadi Eisenkot, head of the centrist Yashar party, has emerged as the most serious challenger to prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Over recent months, Eisenkot\u2019s Yashar party has become the largest opposition party, overtaking another centrist party, Beyachad (\u201cTogether\u201d), led by two former prime ministers, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. <\/p>\n

The latest polls show Yashar with the same, or slightly more, projected seats as Netanyahu\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Despite his steady rise in the polls, Eisenkot (66) remains something of an enigma in Israeli<\/a> politics. He lacks charisma and appears almost awkward in front of the cameras \u2013 the polar opposite of Netanyahu \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

\"GadiGadi Eisenkot in 2016, during his time as the IDF’s chief-of-staff. Photograph: Thomas Coez\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

He lost a son and two nephews in the Gaza<\/a> war, of which he himself was a major architect, joining Netanyahu\u2019s 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 \u201cconducted in accordance with tactical objectives, without meaningful moves to achieve the strategic objectives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot said the loss of his youngest son pushed him to take action to make Israel a better country. \u201cWe will do everything to be worthy \u2013 and make the right decisions for those who sacrificed, your brothers in arms, and for the entire Israeli people,\u201d he said in his eulogy at his son\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, he launched Yashar (Hebrew for straight, or upright).<\/p>\n

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\u2019s longest-serving prime minister winning another term. <\/p>\n

They argue that Eisenkot lacks the experience to lead Israel at such a critical moment \u2013 in contrast to the savvy Netanyahu, who has decades of political and diplomatic mileage behind him \u2013 warning that he is liable to capitulate in the face of the existential threats.<\/p>\n

The right-wing also argue that Eisenkot will be forced to form a coalition with the Arab parties, repeating the mantra: \u201cEisenkot has no government without the Arab parties.\u201d <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israeli government passes disputed laws to shore up support for Netanyahu before electionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

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\u2019s top general was cautious, avoiding unnecessary military adventures, instead focusing on proactive, small-scale operations designed to delay war and deter Israel\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Blue and White party, before leaving in June 2025 and resigning from the Knesset.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s maiden campaign speech.<\/p>\n

\"GadiGadi Eisenkot with Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in 2018. Photograph: Jack Guez\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Most Israelis want an empowered, independent inquest into the catastrophe, but Netanyahu has resisted the idea, having never admitted personal responsibility. <\/p>\n

When asked if he would join a government with Netanyahu, Eisenkot said: \u201cAnyone who had a leadership or command position on October 7th is not fit to hold a leadership position moving forward. Therefore, he is unfit.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Palestinian<\/a> issue, Eisenkot opposes a two-state solution and supports Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, but only if it is \u201cin accordance with the national interests of the state of Israel and in accordance with the law\u201d. He has described settler violence as \u201cterrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

He advocates military or national service for all citizens, including for the ultra-Orthodox and Israel\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israelis go to the polls on October 27th and the country\u2019s former top general Gadi Eisenkot, head of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33779,42,46,65589,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-551967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-binyamin-netanyahu","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-israel-defence-forces","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}