No. 3: Gadi Eisenkot: Israel’s next prime minister?

Yashar Party leader and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has emerged over the past 12 months as the leading opposition candidate seeking to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the October 27 election.

Eisenkot stepped into politics at a crucial juncture. Entering the Knesset for the first time in 2022 as MK Benny Gantz’s second-in-command in the National Unity Party, he was thrust into a unity government in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacres, and the wars that followed.

The war in Gaza became extremely personal for Eisenkot, when, just two months into the fighting, he lost his son Gal. That same week, he lost a nephew; then, a year later, another nephew was killed.

Eisenkot said that the loss of his youngest son pushed him to take action to better the country, and in September 2025, he launched Yashar, months after leaving Netanyahu’s emergency coalition.

Over the past year, Eisenkot focused on how to bring the most votes to the opposition bloc as he laid the groundwork for a prime ministerial run.

Eisenkot has presented himself as a unique candidate, offering an image of a more reserved personality in comparison to the outgoing, loud personas who have led Israeli politics.

After October 7 and the loss of his son, the former IDF chief stepped out of the shadows of the political arena to offer his vision for moving the country forward. He called on Netanyahu to take responsibility, arguing that the time had come to remove those who were in power at the time of the massacre.

Following his party’s launch, Eisenkot has built a centrist platform focused on “repairing, healing, and hope for Israeli society,” seeking to guide the country toward a “straight” and honest path – as his party name suggests.

Eisenkot vows to establish state commission of inquiry into October 7 failures

Eisenkot has vowed to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate the government’s failures on October 7. While he insists on equal service for all, his stance is less forceful than the positions of other opposition party leaders, calling for a “realistic plan” to draft haredim (ultra-Orthodox) into the IDF.

Rejecting advances from fellow opposition party leaders to serve as their second-in-command, Eisenkot noted in a March interview: “I believe in myself, I know the kind of leadership that I bring, and I see myself as a very strong candidate.”

Over the past few months, support for Eisenkot has surged in the polls, as he leapfrogs over both former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Netanyahu’s Likud party. In light of these surveys, he has been positioning himself as the main candidate to lead a post-October 27 government.

Garnering praise across the political spectrum, Eisenkot has indicated his willingness to sit in a government not only with the opposition bloc, but also with parties that are part of Netanyahu’s current coalition; this is in contrast to other opposition parties, which are maintaining a stronger hardline stance on the government’s post-election make-up.

Comparisons have been made between Eisenkot and Gantz, his former political partner, another former military chief once seen as one of Netanyahu’s strongest rivals, who has since lost public support. Time will soon tell if Eisenkot can overcome the hurdle that kept Gantz from becoming prime minister.

Should he do so, Eisenkot will make history as Israel’s first Mizrahi prime minister. He would also have a chance to lead Israel into a post-Netanyahu reality, confronting the many challenges facing the country “straight” on, and with a fresh outlook.