{"id":649092,"date":"2026-10-17T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T09:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649092\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T09:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T09:12:09","slug":"the-israeli-politicians-seeking-to-replace-netanyahu-israel-election-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649092\/","title":{"rendered":"The Israeli politicians seeking to replace Netanyahu | Israel Election 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 26, five leading members of Israel\u2019s self-styled Zionist opposition signed a non-aggression pact, seeking to oust incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu in the October 27 election.<\/p>\n

Gathered at the Tel Aviv home of opposition leader Yair Lapid were his co-runner, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of Beyachad; former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new Yashar party; Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party; and Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

In the statement of principles published after the hours-long meeting, the leaders said, \u201cDespite ideological differences among us, the formation of a Zionist, statesmanlike government dedicated to repair and reconstruction is our shared overarching goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, how long that pact might last \u2014 Liberman has already accused frontrunner Eisenkot of seeking a deal with Netanyahu \u2014 how meaningful a change in substance as well as style they offer, and which of them might lead a future coalition, remain open to question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left, Israeli opposition leaders Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman meet on September 26, 2026 [Courtesy of Yair Lapid via X]<\/p>\n

With the exception of Golan, all take a fundamentally right-wing approach to Israel\u2019s challenges.<\/p>\n

None is committed to establishing a Palestinian state, with only the Democrats acknowledging it as a distant, unspecified goal. None, Golan included, accepts that Israel\u2019s war on Gaza amounts to genocide or that it has committed war crimes in killing more than 74,000 people<\/a> there. Nor has any questioned Israeli military actions against Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Qatar and Iran, instead reserving criticism mostly for how those actions have allowed Israel to be perceived internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dominant forces in the opposition such as Bennett, Liberman or Eisenkot represent right-wing politics,\u201d said Ahron Bregman, an Israeli analyst and senior teaching fellow at King\u2019s College London. \u201cThey are not willing to touch the real, fundamental issue which is at the heart of everything: the Palestinian issue, and the Palestinian aspirations for independence.\u201d He likened them to Netanyahu, but without the corruption allegations and support of far-right figures, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. \u201cIsrael as a whole is a right-wing nation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

So, who are the main opposition figures and what do their parties stand for?<\/p>\n

\"ROSHGadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, delivers a speech [File: Erik Marmor\/Getty Images]Gadi Eisenkot \u2013 Yashar<\/p>\n

Credited with originating the Dahiyeh Doctrine in 2008, involving \u201cdisproportionate force<\/a>\u201d and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure against groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Eisenkot served as Israeli military chief from 2015 to 2019.<\/p>\n

The 66-year-old entered politics in 2022 with former Defence Minister Benny Gantz\u2019s National Unity alliance and later joined the war cabinet<\/a> assembled by Netanyahu after the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In December that year, his son Gal, 25, and two nephews were killed while participating in the genocide in Gaza, losses commentators say have helped forge a connection with an electorate that has come to see itself as scarred by war.<\/p>\n

In June 2024, he quit the war cabinet alongside Gantz<\/a>, accusing Netanyahu of lacking a strategy to end the war. A year later, Eisenkot founded the centrist Yashar (Straight\/Honest), advocating for professional government, military service for all \u2013 including ultra-Orthodox Jews<\/a> \u2013 and a state commission of inquiry into the failings before October 7.<\/p>\n

While notoriously ambiguous on many of Israel\u2019s foreign policy positions, he has been critical of the government\u2019s reliance upon the United States in achieving its war aims, while not questioning those aims themselves. In June, he characterised Washington\u2019s mediated negotiations with Tehran to end the war against Iran that Washington had embarked upon with Israel as \u201ca deal taking shape far from here and far from Israeli interests\u201d and, the same month, railed against US restrictions on Israel\u2019s freedom of action in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Eisenkot has ruled out including the United Arab List, or Ra\u2019am party, in a post-election coalition. In a September 26 Channel 12 interview<\/a>, he said no Arab party would accept his conditions, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.<\/p>\n

\"epa12915798Former Israeli Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett, left, and Yair Lapid, right [File: Abir Sultan\/EPA]Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid \u2013 Beyachad<\/p>\n

Beyachad (Together) is the joint list announced<\/a> in April 2026 by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, who served for a combined 18 months in 2021-2022 between Netanyahu governments.<\/p>\n

Bennett, a 54-year-old longtime supporter of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, leads the list, with Lapid, the 62-year-old founder of the centrist Yesh Atid party, in second place.<\/p>\n

Lapid has called his partner \u201ca right-wing politician, but an honest one\u201d. Neither has prioritised resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or supported a Palestinian state. Though their 2021 coalition included Ra\u2019am, Bennett has acknowledged that this broke an electoral promise.<\/p>\n

Lapid has been one of Israel\u2019s most outspoken critics of how its genocide and multiple strikes upon its neighbours are perceived internationally, while rarely questioning the rationale behind those actions. Bennett, in contrast, is more outspoken in his hawkish views. A full-throated supporter of the country\u2019s war on Iran, he also congratulated Israel\u2019s military and security services for a September 2025 attack<\/a> on Qatar\u2019s capital, Doha, that targeted senior Hamas leaders as they met to consider a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by the US. A Qatari security official was killed in the attack, which drew condemnation<\/a> from across the region and beyond.<\/p>\n

They now seek a government composed solely of Zionist parties, also ruling out reliance on Arab parties.<\/p>\n

\"JERUSALEM,Avigdor Lieberman speaks at a Yisrael Beiteinu party meeting [File: Amir Levy\/Getty Images]Avigdor Lieberman \u2013 Yisrael Beiteinu<\/p>\n

The most hawkish voice at Lapid\u2019s table, Lieberman, 68, founded Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) in 1999 to represent right-leaning Russian-speaking immigrants.<\/p>\n

Once Netanyahu\u2019s protege, Lieberman has ruled out serving under him or joining a coalition that includes the ultra-Orthodox or relies on Arab parties, which he calls anti-Zionist. He has also rejected a minority government, reportedly making him a principal obstacle to Eisenkot becoming the bloc\u2019s prime ministerial candidate.<\/p>\n

In November 2023, Lieberman repeated his 2018 assertion, made then as defence minister, that there were \u201cno innocents in Gaza\u201d. In February, he visited the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, and accused Netanyahu\u2019s government of funding Hamas<\/a> by allowing the minimal humanitarian aid that has been permitted into Gaza.<\/p>\n

The Yisrael Beiteinu leader has been a consistent supporter of Israel\u2019s genocide and subsequent military actions. In September 2025, he joined other Israeli politicians in criticising<\/a> Netanyahu for the apology to Doha that he had been forced to make by the Trump administration for that month\u2019s strike, saying the apology was instead owed to the Israeli public. Equally, he has argued against any restraint in its invasion of Lebanon, telling the Jerusalem Post in March: \u201cIf once again we go for a limited operation, some manoeuvre near the border, maybe talk about a security zone, it\u2019s complete madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLieberman does not belong in this bloc,\u201d said Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an Israeli analyst with Atlas Global Strategies, arguing that his main motivation was hatred of Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

However, Ben-Ephraim said, Lieberman \u201cmaintains a loyal base and is a crucial force in Israeli politics\u201d. His core constituency is the former Soviet electorate, but he has gained wider trust through his perceived independence.<\/p>\n

Observers say he could potentially return to Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing bloc.<\/p>\n

\"YairYair Golan, the leader of \u2018The Democrats\u2019 a left-wing political alliance, is interviewed by Reuters in his office in Tel Aviv [Eloisa Lopez\/Reuters]Yair Golan \u2013 Democrats<\/p>\n

The only leader at Lapid\u2019s table from the Zionist left and the only one open to working with Palestinian parties, Golan heads the Democrats, a liberal party that was formed in 2024 through the merger of Labor and the social democratic, secular Meretz.<\/p>\n

A retired major-general and former deputy chief of staff, Golan, 64, earned domestic plaudits for driving south<\/a> during the 2023 Hamas-led attack and helping repel it.<\/p>\n

Golan is alone among many in the anti-Netanyahu bloc in his criticism of the\u00a0government\u2019s war aims, arguing that military achievements are being squandered without a coherent diplomatic and political strategy<\/p>\n

In May 2025, two years into the genocide in Gaza, Golan sparked controversy when he told a news conference that a \u201csane country does not kill babies as a hobby<\/a>\u201d, accusing ministers of celebrating the starvation of Palestinian children in the territory. He later walked back<\/a> the comments after widespread criticism in Israel. In October,<\/a> while praising the achievements of the previous year\u2019s 12-day war<\/a> against Iran, he told party members that the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the conflict was a \u201cmistake\u201d. \u201cNot because he didn\u2019t deserve to die,\u201d he caveated, \u201conly because it doesn\u2019t serve the interests of the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his openness to working with Palestinian parties, in September, Golan backed the disqualification<\/a> of Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Arab Balad party, over an article about October 7, drawing criticism<\/a> from the Joint List \u2013 an alliance of the Arab-led Hadash, Ta\u2019al and Balad parties \u2013 and commentators.<\/p>\n

Roi Zur, a University of Essex specialist in Israeli politics, said that despite Golan and Lieberman\u2019s ideological differences on security and conflict, there will be \u201cno winning coalition without these two\u201d. He added that concerns about a clash between them miss the point, noting that both oppose Netanyahu, favour secularisation and strongly oppose exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On September 26, five leading members of Israel\u2019s self-styled Zionist opposition signed a non-aggression pact, seeking to oust…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,85,46,48084,286552,44,47,43,238],"class_list":["post-649092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-israel-attacks-lebanon","tag-israel-election-2026","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649092","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=649092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}