Yashar Party<\/a>, headed by Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot, on Monday submitted its final list of Knesset candidates to the country\u2019s Central Elections Committee ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.<\/p>\nFormer chief of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) Yoram Cohen is second on the list, followed by Knesset member Orit Farkash-Hacohen, a former member of Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz\u2019s National Unity Party, and Adi Altschuler, a social entrepreneur the party is designating for the education minister role if it is tasked with forming Israel\u2019s next coalition.<\/p>\n
Additional candidates include former ministers Col. (res.) Matan Kahana and Chili Tropper at fifth and sixth place, respectively; Shira Shapira, mother of Aner Shapira, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while defending civilians at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re\u2019im, placed 10th; former minister Maj. Gen. (res.) Elazar Stern at 12th; and former Mossad and Shin Bet operative Devorah Sharifian Bachar placed at 14th.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post containing the full 40-name list, Eisenkot wrote in Hebrew, \u201cYashar was founded out of a deep love for the State of Israel and a belief that we can and must do things differently here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cJoining me are men and women from the fields of security and education, economics and society. Young and experienced, from all parts of the country and all segments of Israeli society\u2014and, as we pledged, gender equality between women and men!\u201d<\/p>\n
Democracy and cost of living on the party\u2019s agenda<\/p>\n
The unveiling was accompanied by an event hosted by Yashar in the city of Rosh Ha\u2019ayin on Monday evening, where several candidates spoke to JNS.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a winning list that includes all parts of Israeli society,\u201d said lawmaker Farkash-Hacohen. \u201cActive and experienced people, newcomers, women and men, women who have served as ministers, and people with backgrounds in the fields of economics, education, health and mental health. We have plans and aspirations to enter government and start fixing things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kahana told JNS that after the upcoming elections, \u201cI am planning to act with all my strength for the Israeli people. We would have wanted all the Zionist factions that believe in a democratic and Jewish State of Israel, believe in Israel\u2019s Declaration of Independence, and support service for all to be part of the next government. This is the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaul Meridor, the former director of the Israeli Finance Ministry\u2019s Budget Department and son of longtime Likud Party member Dan Meridor, seventh on the party slate, told JNS that Yashar \u201cwant[s] to be democratic and liberal.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cBeyond the issues of service for all and state education for all, we must lower the cost of living in Israel. We must address it and make sure that it is not so expensive to live here. And finally, the north and the south must be rehabilitated after this war, and young people must return to live there and raise their children there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry directorate responsible for integrating young ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli military Inbar Harush Giti, No. 11 on the list, hailed her party\u2019s varied list.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty percent are women,\u201d she told JNS, \u201cand it includes people who have done great things for the State of Israel. They come from all parts of the country and from a wide range of backgrounds. What they have in common is that they want to see a national and Zionist country here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smotrich warns of Judea and Samaria policies<\/p>\n
Last month, Eisenkot said he is against the timing of newly announced construction tenders in E1, an area east of Jerusalem and within the municipal boundary of Ma\u2019ale Adumim. The comments came after the Israel Land Authority said it would market to contractors and entrepreneurs the first 1,400 housing units of E1 (\u201cEast 1\u201d), a strategically significant area in Judea.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot now. It is a mistake that comes at an international cost. I would note that Netanyahu himself opposed it for a long time, but yielded because of coalition pressure and approved it,\u201d Eisenkot said.<\/p>\n
His response drew a sharp rebuke from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees the body responsible for approving construction and handling other bureaucratic matters in Area C of Judea and Samaria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is out. The concessions by the Eisenkot-Liberman-Golan government began even before it came to power,\u201d Smotrich wrote. \u201cThe construction I am advancing in the E1 area is cutting short the dream of establishing a terror state next to Jerusalem. Anyone who opposes construction in E1 supports the establishment of a Palestinian state\u2014even if they lie to you and try to present a different position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smotrich warned on Sunday that the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria would be endangered if the opposition came to power, pointing to comments by Yoram Cohen.<\/p>\n
Appearing on Saturday night on Channel 12\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d Cohen, who is No. 2 on the Yashar Party list, said, \u201cWhat was built by the government according to a government decision and it\u2019s legal\u2014I\u2019m in favor of it, and with continuing it going forward.\u201d But, he said, \u201cWhat is illegal or not built with a government decision in advance and according to planning\u2014I am against.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking of construction that Smotrich helped advance, Cohen said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure that everything he built was according to government decision. We have to look into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smotrich responded, \u201cFor long months now, I have been warning that the Eisenkot government will evacuate the settlements and farms we established. Now, Yoram Cohen, a senior figure in the Eisenkot party, is saying it in his own voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 40 names on Yashar\u2019s slate are:<\/p>\n
Gadi EisenkotYoram CohenOrit Farkash-HacohenAdi AltschulerMatan KahanaChili TropperShaul MeridorTair IferganOshrat Gani GonenShira ShapiraInbar Harush GitiElazar SternKamil Abu RukunDevorah Sharifian BacharAlex RifInbar YehezkeliRoy FolkmanIsrael ZariTal Ohana HachmonElyasaf PeretzYaffa TabajaNir HagbiRon BarkaiShay FisherLian Folk DavidRoee CohenZiv RosenJocelyn BashAlon FutermanTali MolnerGil AvrielShiran Ben David OzriEliran EliyahuHelen GelberShlomi YahiavHila MeirRan Ben AtiaEliana SachsGidi ZagaMoshe Davidovich<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Sept. 8, 2026 \/ JNS) Israel\u2019s Yashar Party, headed by Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot, on Monday submitted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-609611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609611","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=609611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}