According to a number of polls, Eisenkot’s centrist political party, Yashar, has a narrow lead over Netanyahu’s Likud. To form a government, Yashar or Likud will need to cobble together a 61-seat majority of parties to be able to form a new coalition government.<\/p>\n
TRUMP SAYS NETANYAHU NEEDS TO BE RE-ELECTED, OR ELSE US WILL HAVE TO ‘FINISH THE JOB\u2019 AGAINST IRAN ALONE<\/a><\/p>\n Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, speaks from behind a podium with a banner reading “Yashar with Eisenkot” during an event presenting the party’s full candidate list ahead of October’s general election on Sept. 7, 2026 in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. Eisenkot, a retired chief of the Israel Defense Forces, has emerged as the foremost challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.\u00a0 (Erik Marmor\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Who is the 66-year-old Eisenkot?\u00a0<\/p>\n He was born in Tiberias in Israel\u2019s north to a Jewish-Moroccan family who relocated to Israel\u2019s southernmost city, Eilat, on the Red Sea when he was a toddler.<\/p>\n A career soldier, he opted to serve in the infantry. He was part of the elite Golani Brigade and reached the zenith of the military with his 2015 appointment to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff in 2015 until 2019.<\/p>\n Yossi Melman, one of Israel\u2019s most respected journalists on intelligence and defense reporting, told Fox News Digital that Eisenkot, “Is 100% a soldier. He is very brave and humble. He is an officer and gentleman.”<\/p>\n Melman noted that when Eisenkot was chosen to be the next IDF chief of staff, he declined because he felt that then General Benny Gantz<\/a> should receive the appointment. Melman asked, “How many people would do that? He was selected after Gantz. It shows his traits of modesty, honesty and not arrogant.”<\/p>\n Melman said, “It is a miracle he is leading in the polls. He is the antithesis of a what a politician should be. He is not a great orator when you compare him to Netanyahu. He radiates honesty.”<\/p>\n BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’S LEGACY AND POLITICAL FUTURE ON THE LINE IN ISRAEL’S OCT 27 ELECTION<\/a><\/p>\n Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot attends the Jerusalem Residents Conference on Aug. 12, 2026 in Jerusalem. Gadi Eisenkot, a retired chief of the Israel Defense Forces and current leader of the Yashar party, has emerged as the foremost challenger to Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of October’s general election. (Erik Marmor\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Eisenkot\u2019s Mizrahi background \u2014 Jews who originate from North Africa and the Middle East \u2014 would mean, if he prevails, that he would be the first Israeli Prime Minister of Moroccan origin. The Prime Minister\u2019s office has been held by Israelis of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi) since the rebirth of the Jewish state<\/a> in 1948.<\/p>\n After Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, Eisenkot joined Netanyahu\u2019s war cabinet as a minister without portfolio.<\/p>\n Melman said Eisenkot “did not set any political conditions” and “his presence in the cabinet saved Netanyahu.” After eight months of serving in the war cabinet, Eisenkot resigned, blaming the prime minister for failing to implement a comprehensive strategy.<\/p>\n The war against the Iran-backed terrorist movement Hamas<\/a> took an enormous toll on the battle-hardened General Eisenkot and his family. Hamas killed his son, 25-year-old Master Sergeant Gal Eisenkot, in Dec. 2023. The terrorist organization also killed two nephews of Eisenkot. Netanyahu and his wife Sara said at the time that they were devastated by Gal\u2019s death and Eisenkot was a “true hero.”<\/p>\n ZIONISM EXPLAINED FROM ITS BIBLICAL ORIGINS TO THE REBIRTH OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL<\/a><\/p>\n Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli army chief of staff and head of the Yashar party, is seen at the Black Arrow memorial site near Kibbutz Mefalsim during a visit to deliver a statement near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 15, 2026, ahead of the Israel’s legislative election.\u00a0 (Ilia Yefimovich\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Danny Orbach, a military historian from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave his take on the leading contender to replace Netanyahu. “I think his military record and his prospects as a national leader have both significant strengths and serious weaknesses. He bears considerable responsibility for shaping the IDF that existed on Oct. 7, 2023. And that was, paradoxically, both the army that proved capable of defeating Hezbollah, striking Iran and achieving unprecedented military successes in the extraordinarily difficult, tunnel-ridden battlefield of Gaza<\/a> and the army that failed so miserably on Oct. 7.”<\/p>\n He continued that, “Like other chiefs of staff, Eisenkot bears responsibility for the decisions that reduced the army’s size and for the infamous \u2018conceptzia\u2019 [Hebrew word for concept] regarding Hamas. In that respect, I consider him just as culpable as Netanyahu.”<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military, intelligence and political establishments bought into the \u2018conceptzia\u2019 that Hamas could be housebroken with massive infusions of economic aid. Hamas, however, was wedded to its radical Islamist ideology \u2014the destruction of the Jewish state \u2014 and used the funds to advance its war aims.<\/p>\n Orbach noted that “I don’t think most of Eisenkot’s support stems from his energy, enthusiasm or even his political platform. My impression is that Eisenkot has emerged as the default \u2018non-Bibi\u2019 candidate, the politician who currently channels much of the camp’s hopes and expectations.”<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot (L) give a press conference in Tel Aviv, on Dec. 4, 2018. Israel’s army said today it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group.\u00a0 (Jack Guez\/AFP Via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Orbach added that “I also doubt that Eisenkot would have had the political determination to stand up to the Biden administration on such matters.”<\/p>\n Netanyahu and former President Biden repeatedly clashed over Biden\u2019s attempts to rope in Israel\u2019s efforts to defeat Iran\u2019s seven-front war<\/a> against the Jewish state.<\/p>\n The military historian, however, noted that “I believe an Eisenkot government could address several of Israel’s most urgent problems. It would remove Ben Gvir from power, confront the growing problem of Jewish extremist violence and terrorism<\/a> in the West Bank, and begin repairing Israel’s severely damaged international legitimacy.”<\/p>\n Itamar Ben-Gvir is a controversial right-wing firebrand politician and the current minister of national security since 2022, who has outraged many Western European and foreign leaders with his heated rhetoric against the Palestinians.<\/p>\n TIMELINE OF DECADES-LONG ISRAELI-ARAB, PALESTINIAN CONFLICT<\/a><\/p>\n Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot attends the funeral for his son, First Sergeant Major Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25 years old, at the Herzliya cemetery on Dec. 8, 2023 in Herzliya, Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said the 25-year-old major, son of the cabinet minister and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, died on Thursday in Gaza. (Dima Vazinovich \/ Middle East Images \/ Middle East Images\/AFP via Getty Images))<\/p>\n Eisenkot\u2019s wife, Hannah, comes from an American Jewish family. U.S. General Joseph Dunford awarded Eisenkot the Commander of the Legion of Merit because of his “exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the General Staff of the IDF” and his “contribution to the strategic cooperation between the United States and Israel [that] will have a lasting effect on both countries,” according to the Washington Institute, where Eisenkot served as a military fellow in 2019.<\/p>\n Nadav Eyal, an Israeli analyst and journalist for the mass circulation Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, told Fox News Digital, Gadi Eisenkot is widely considered one of the most successful Chiefs of Staff that Israel has had in the last thirty years.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n Israel’s new Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot delivers a speech during his swearing-in ceremony at the Prime Minister’s Jerusalem offices on Feb. 16, 2015.\u00a0 (Menahem Kahana\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n He continued that “Chiefs of Staff in Israel, unlike in other countries, are really extremely capable, in general, to be prime minister. They are leading the country\u2019s biggest organization, the IDF.”<\/p>\n Eyal, who writes extensively about the IDF, credited Eisenkot\u2019s military planning against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon <\/a>and the significant defeats the Lebanese Shiite entity experienced, including the “discovery of tunnels that Hezbollah built” to enter Israel. Hezbollah immediately joined Hamas\u2019s war against Israel in Oct. 2023.<\/p>\n Given the nature of Israel\u2019s electoral system, an outright winner won\u2019t likely be known for several days, since the leading party will need to form a coalition to get to the 61-seat mandate to run the country.<\/p>\n Benjamin Weinthal\u00a0reports on Israel<\/a>, Iran<\/a>, Syria<\/a>, Turkey<\/a> and Europe.<\/a> You can follow\u00a0Benjamin\u00a0on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! JERUSALEM \u2014 Israel\u2019s high-stakes election on Oct. 27 pits the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[49,4410,42,46,47,120007,43,40,38,41,39,295380],"class_list":["post-656589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-elections","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-middle-east-foreign-policy","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-world-elections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656589","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=656589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Gadi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gettyimages-2293574669-scaled.jpg\")
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