A retired Israeli general who lost his son and two nephews in the Gaza war has emerged as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most serious challenger ahead of elections scheduled for the fall, with polling suggesting Gadi Eisenkot could pose the sharpest threat yet to Israel’s longest-serving leader.
What Happened
Eisenkot, a 66-year-old former Israeli military chief of staff who quit Netanyahu’s war Cabinet after accusing him of lacking a coherent strategy in Gaza, launched his centrist party “Yashar,” meaning “Straight,” with a formal campaign kickoff earlier this year. “This time it’s on us,” Eisenkot told supporters at the launch. “Will we turn a blind eye to the disaster that has befallen us? Will we accept the continued division and rush to the next disaster? Or will we heal and rebuild?”
Netanyahu has directly attacked Eisenkot’s record, arguing that had he followed the general’s more cautious approach to certain Gaza operations, “all of Hamas” would still control the territory. Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, described Eisenkot as looking like a front-runner “because he’s everything Netanyahu is not,” noting he is “not polarizing, not a populist,” and appears focused on unifying rather than dividing the country.
Military analyst Amos Harel, who has covered Eisenkot since 1998, said the retired general carries visible grief but channels it into determination rather than paralysis. “You can see a cloud of grief around him, but he’s not a man who seems broken; instead he seems even more determined,” Harel said, describing Eisenkot’s campaign as something he views as “a debt to his fallen son and the generation of Oct. 7 fighters who died.”
Why It Matters
Eisenkot’s rise represents the most direct electoral test yet of Netanyahu’s decades-long dominance of Israeli politics, arriving at a moment when the prime minister faces both an ongoing corruption trial and mounting public scrutiny over his government’s handling of the war. Unlike many previous challengers, Eisenkot combines security credentials that are difficult for Netanyahu to dismiss with a personal story of wartime sacrifice that resonates deeply with an Israeli public exhausted by years of conflict.
The contrast between the two men extends beyond policy. Eisenkot is the son of Jewish Moroccan immigrants from a working-class background, spent four decades in uniform, and has no history of campaigning on ties to President Trump. Netanyahu, by comparison, is a US-educated figure currently on trial for corruption, whose own son has spent time living in Florida rather than serving in a war zone. That contrast has become a notable undercurrent in how Israeli voters and commentators are discussing the race.
If Eisenkot’s party outperforms Netanyahu’s Likud in the fall vote, it would mark a historic transition for Israeli politics, ending an era defined by one of the most consequential and polarizing figures in the country’s modern history, though Israel’s coalition-based parliamentary system means the final outcome will depend heavily on how smaller parties align after the vote.
Context and Background
Eisenkot’s youngest son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, was killed during a mission in Gaza to retrieve the remains of Israeli hostages who died in the war’s early weeks. He also lost two nephews during the conflict, one of them the day after his son was killed, a level of personal sacrifice that has given him significant credibility among Israelis who see it as evidence he will not needlessly risk soldiers’ lives.
Despite his criticism of Netanyahu’s strategic decisions, Eisenkot has broadly supported Israeli military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and against Iran, positioning himself as a critic of Netanyahu’s leadership and governance rather than of Israel’s security posture generally. He has specifically warned that Netanyahu’s approach risks pushing Israel toward international isolation.
Israel’s fall elections come after a period of significant domestic upheaval, including ongoing debates over judicial reform, the war’s toll on Israeli society, and growing international criticism of settlement expansion in the West Bank, all of which have shaped the political environment Eisenkot is now navigating as a candidate.
Analysis
Political analysts note that Eisenkot’s appeal reflects a broader pattern seen in other democracies following prolonged, costly conflicts, where voters gravitate toward candidates offering competence and personal sacrifice over ideological polarization, a dynamic that could favor a centrist, security-credentialed figure like Eisenkot over Netanyahu’s more combative political style.
Some observers caution that Israel’s fragmented, multi-party parliamentary system means Eisenkot’s personal popularity does not automatically translate into governing power, given that any new government will likely require complex coalition negotiations among multiple parties regardless of which single party wins the largest vote share.
Analysts also point to the significance of Netanyahu directly engaging Eisenkot’s record rather than dismissing him as a minor challenger, suggesting the prime minister’s own campaign apparatus views the retired general as a genuine threat rather than a symbolic protest candidate.
What Happens Next
Israel’s fall elections will serve as the definitive test of whether Eisenkot’s polling strength translates into actual electoral performance, with both candidates expected to intensify their campaigns in the coming weeks. Coalition negotiations following the vote will ultimately determine whether any anti-Netanyahu bloc can assemble a governing majority.
Given the stakes involved, both domestically and for Israel’s ongoing regional conflicts, the campaign is likely to remain a closely watched story internationally through the fall vote and its aftermath.
