tel aviv —
One of Gadi Eisenkot’s strongest electoral assets is a simple and undeniable fact. That is, he is not Benjamin Netanyahu. And for many voters participating in one of the most important elections in Israeli history, that may be enough.
But one of his other assets became the center of a political firestorm when Ynon Magar, a prominent television host widely considered to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mouthpiece, criticized the prime minister’s main rival. In a series of racially offensive remarks, Magal called Eisenkot a “monkey” of “Mizrahi-Moroccan” heritage controlled by “Ashkenazi elites.”
The remarks sparked a political and media firestorm, shocking long-standing inequalities between Jews from Europe and those from the Middle East. Magal later claimed that he had not meant to ridicule Icenekot’s ethnic origins. Rather, he was using underworld terminology to refer to frontmen who are managed from behind the scenes. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not known for his contrition, condemned the remarks.
Still, the episode spotlighted Eisenkot’s family history.
For years, many Mizrahi voters have traditionally supported Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party. Mr. Eisenkot, 66, the son of Moroccan immigrants who became Israel’s top general, grew up in Tiberias and Eilat, far from the country’s centers of political power. His story stands in sharp contrast to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s elite, who were raised within the circles of power in Jerusalem.
Eisenkot rarely mentions his ethnicity, but analysts believe it is part of his appeal. Despite polling in the single digits a year ago, he has emerged as the leading opposition candidate to oust Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oct. 27 vote. Israel never had a Mizrahi prime minister. This is the first time Eisenkot has taken the lead.
Eisenkot is the second of nine children and the father of five children. He is a relative newcomer to politics after spending most of his life in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
He joined the Golani Brigades in 1978 and after a 40-year career served as chief of staff in the Netanyahu government from 2015 to 2019.
His tenure included one of the most controversial episodes in recent Israeli military history. In 2016, Sgt. Erol Azaria shot and killed a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron. Despite pressure from right-wing politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Eisenkot said he upholds military discipline and ethics and supported the military investigation and trial.
He entered politics in 2022 with fellow former chief of staff Benny Gantz. The two joined Prime Minister Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. However, they pointed out that there was no clear postwar strategy and withdrew in June 2024.
By that time, the war had already taken a heavy toll on Eisenkot’s family. His youngest son, Gul, 25, died in fighting in Gaza in December 2023, two months after the war began. Two of his nephews also died in battle.
In April 2026, Eisenkot wrote in the newspaper Yediot Aronos that he swore on Gul’s grave that the price paid by him and his friends, both known and unknown, would not be in vain. Mr. Eisenkot has made this singular promise central to his political mission.
Eisenkot enters the final round as the opposition’s strongest candidate.
Most recent opinion polls predict that his Yashar party will win 20 to 23 of the 120-seat parliament, ahead of Likud. Netanyahu also leads in opinion polls on who is best suited to be prime minister.
But victory is not guaranteed, and the poll numbers, which may be inaccurate, are less important than the Israeli coalition’s calculations.
Under the Israeli system, even if Eisenkot’s party finishes first, the president does not automatically give him the task of forming a government. The task will be given to the MP most likely to form a coalition government. And that’s where the math begins.
Opinion polls show that neither Netanyahu’s nor the anti-Netanyahu bloc, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, is expected to reach a majority of 61 seats. Political deadlock is a very real possibility.
Eisenkot’s path to power goes through left-wing, right-wing and centrist parties, and depending on the scenario, he could rely on Arab parties. Prime Minister Netanyahu has spent years outlawing cooperation with Arab parties, and some other opposition leaders have already declared they will not work with them.
Eisenkot has said he will seek to form a government even without 61 seats, raising the possibility of a minority government supported by an outside Arab party. But the right-wing parties that need to join his coalition government may reject that option.
Eisenkot, a former military planner, differs from Netanyahu in personality, style and temperament. His campaign signs promoted him as a “warrior, leader, and unifier.” His party’s name is Yashar (Hebrew for “straight”), inspired by the words of hostage Eli Shalabi on October 7: “It’s not right, it’s not left, it’s straight.”
Domesticity and accountability are central to his campaign promise. He promised to set up a national commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 debacle, which Netanyahu has resisted since the start of the war. He also promises to make military or national service compulsory for all citizens. The outgoing coalition relies on political parties demanding the continuation of blanket exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
However, when it comes to security, he is a hawkish figure who shares many positions with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Like nearly all of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s rivals, he broadly supported Israeli military operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Within the IDF, he is associated with the “Dahieh Doctrine,” the use of overwhelming force against civilian infrastructure to deter future extremist attacks, and the “Interwar Campaign,” a covert, low-intensity operational strategy aimed at eroding an enemy’s capabilities without provoking a full-scale conflict.
Regarding Iran, he shares the central goal of preventing Netanyahu from acquiring nuclear weapons and weakening Iran’s proxy networks. But he criticizes the lack of strategy in recent conflicts and argues that military gains must be accompanied by diplomacy.
He slammed Netanyahu for his handling of the Gaza war, accusing him of prolonging the conflict for political reasons and endangering Israeli hostages, charges that eventually led to his resignation from the war cabinet.
Eisenkot comes from the security establishment, and some of his coalition partners are likely to be right-wing parties unwilling to accept a fundamental change in Israel’s strategic direction. As for the Gaza Strip, he has promised to end Hamas’ rule within 18 months, either through implementation of Trump’s ceasefire plan or through what he calls a “creative” military operation.
Indeed, although Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stated objectives are largely the same, Eisenkot insists that “as long as Prime Minister Netanyahu is in office, Hamas will remain in power.”
Before entering politics, Eisenkot warned that continued Israeli control over Palestinians in the occupied West Bank risked creating a binational state, calling it “the end of the Zionist idea.” But since October 7, he has rejected a two-state solution, recently saying in an interview that those who still advocate a two-state solution are “delusional” and offering no alternative vision.
He opposes formal annexation or illegal outposts, calling the Israeli government’s plan to build in the controversial E1 area of the West Bank a “mistake” because of its international costs. And he vowed to crack down on settler violence and what he bluntly labeled “Jewish terrorism” and accused the government of tying the hands of security forces.
President Trump has made his preferences clear, giving Netanyahu his “full and total support” on Sunday and calling him a “great warrior prime minister.” Anyone else would be the “wrong leader,” he warned, suggesting the United States must face Iran alone.
Eisenkot and other opposition leaders, through intermediaries including Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson, asked the White House to stay out of the race, according to Israeli sources familiar with the effort. It didn’t work. Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump share a long history, ranging from moving the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2017, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, the Abraham Accords in 2020, and attacking Iran in 2025-2026.
Asked by political analyst Barak Rabid if he could work with another prime minister, Trump replied: “Maybe, maybe not. Who would take that chance?”
But Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken steps over the past year that have angered President Trump and others in his administration, including attacks in Lebanon and Gaza that have undermined regional peace efforts.
Eisenkot’s government, without Netanyahu’s far-right partners Itamar Bengvir and Bezalel Smotrich, will likely be more moderate, giving Trump more room to pursue regional diplomacy, including a long-held ambition to normalize Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh still seeks a credible path to a Palestinian state, but a coalition that does not rely on the far right would make it easier to move in that direction.
