Gadi Eisenkot emerges as Netanyahu’s leading challenger in Israel’s October election
Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leading the centrist Yashar party, has drawn narrow poll leads over Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud ahead of the October 27 vote.
Former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the most serious challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the country’s October 27 election. Eisenkot, a decorated retired lieutenant general who is relatively new to politics, leads the centrist Yashar party, which according to several polls holds a narrow advantage over Netanyahu’s Likud.
Neither party is expected to win outright. To form a government, either Yashar or Likud would need to assemble a coalition of parties controlling at least 61 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. That arithmetic will shape the campaign as both sides seek partners across the political spectrum.
Eisenkot was born in Tiberias in northern Israel to a Jewish-Moroccan family that later moved to Eilat, the southernmost city on the Red Sea, when he was a toddler. He served as a career soldier and chose the infantry, joining the elite Golani Brigade before rising to the top of the military. He was appointed Israel Defense Forces chief of staff in 2015 and served until 2019. Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli journalist who covers intelligence and defense, described him to Fox News Digital as a soldier who is brave and humble. Melman recalled that Eisenkot declined the chief of staff post at one point because he felt then-General Benny Gantz should receive the appointment first.
Melman said Eisenkot’s standing in the polls is surprising given his style. "He is the antithesis of what a politician should be," Melman said. "He is not a great orator when you compare him to Netanyahu. He radiates honesty."
Eisenkot’s Mizrahi background, referring to Jews whose families originate in North Africa and the Middle East, would also be historically notable. If he becomes prime minister, he would be the first Israeli leader of Moroccan origin. The office has been held by Israelis of Eastern European, or Ashkenazi, descent since the founding of the state in 1948.
Eisenkot’s time in government was shaped by the war that followed Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 people were killed, including more than 40 Americans. He joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet as a minister without portfolio. Melman said Eisenkot "did not set any political conditions" and that his presence in the cabinet helped stabilize the government. After about eight months, Eisenkot resigned, blaming the prime minister for failing to implement a comprehensive strategy.
The war also brought personal loss. Hamas killed his son, 25-year-old Master Sergeant Gal Eisenkot, in December 2023, and also killed two of Eisenkot’s nephews. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, said at the time that they were devastated by Gal’s death and described Eisenkot as a "true hero."
Military historian Danny Orbach of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem offered a mixed assessment of Eisenkot’s record. He said Eisenkot bears considerable responsibility for shaping the Israel Defense Forces that existed on October 7, 2023, an army that achieved significant successes against Hezbollah, Iran and in the difficult tunnel-filled battlefield of Gaza, yet failed badly on October 7. Orbach argued that Eisenkot, like other chiefs of staff, shares responsibility for decisions that reduced the army’s size and for the flawed "conceptzia" that Hamas could be contained with economic aid, a view he said he considers as culpable as Netanyahu’s.
Orbach said much of Eisenkot’s support comes less from his energy or platform than from his position as the leading "non-Bibi" candidate, a figure who currently channels the hopes of those seeking an alternative to Netanyahu. He also said an Eisenkot government could address urgent problems, including removing Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister since 2022, from power, confronting rising Jewish extremist violence in the West Bank, and repairing Israel’s damaged international standing.
Eisenkot’s wife, Hannah, comes from an American Jewish family, and U.S. General Joseph Dunford awarded Eisenkot the Legion of Merit for what was described as exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the General Staff of the IDF. As the campaign moves toward October 27, Eisenkot’s military credentials, personal history and modest political style will be central to his bid to unseat the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history.
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