Jerusalem: “Right man in the right place at the right time. His success in all areas is our success,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2014, when his government approved Gadi Eisenkot’s appointment as the chief of Israeli military.
On Tuesday, as Israel votes, the former Israeli military chief is the main challenger to Netanyahu in what is the first election taking place after the 7 October terrorist attacks, and the years of war that has followed.
Eisenkot’s main campaign pitch has been to seek accountability for the 7 October terrorist attacks.
“Today we have an opportunity to put a ‘Way’ slip in the ballot box, to replace the government of 7th October and the shirking, and to set Israel on a new and better path,” Eisenkot said, minutes before the polling began at 7 a.m. local time (10.30 am IST)
The ballot slip designated for Eisenkot’s Yashar party features the Hebrew word ‘Derech’ which means ‘Way’. The official election results are to be formally announced 4 November.
The fact that he led the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for four years from 2015 to 2019, served in the war cabinet post 7 October, lost one of his sons in the war in Gaza in 2023 and has taken a firm stand on national security, only sharpens his pitch.
Eisenkot may be a political novice, in comparison to Netanyahu, Israel’s longest- serving Prime Minister, but what cannot be overlooked is the country has a long history of rewarding its military leaders. Netanyahu himself has served in the IDF’s Sayeret Matkal special forces unit.
“Gadi Eisenkot may not have been known to the rest of the world until recently, but he has been a popular man in Israel. In this country, the military chief is the second most powerful person after the Prime Minister,” says Paul Gross, author of a new book on Israeli democracy, ‘To Be a Free People in Our Land: Zionism, Liberal Democracy, and Israel’s Hinge Election’.
“Eisenkot has built his campaign with the promise of putting the country first. Netanyahu is perceived as someone who has put his interests, and his family’s, above the state. Gadi Eisenkot has also aptly named his party, ‘Yashar’. In Hebrew, it means neither left nor right,” Ross tells ThePrint.
Eisenkot launched the Yashar party on 16 September 2025, over a year after he left the government. He was elected to the Knesset in 2022 after joining the National Unity alliance, and sworn in as a minister without portfolio in October 2023 after his party joined the government post 7 October attacks. Eisenkot, along with the rest of the National Unity left the government, along with the rest of National Unity, in June 2024.
A year later, he quit the party and resigned from his seat in the Knesset. Now, he is eyeing to be Israel’s next Prime Minister, leading the anti-Netanyahu ‘bloc of change’. According to most polls, the anti-Netanyahu coalition is set to get 52-55 seats, while the Netanyahu bloc is likely to get 49-53 seats.
Eisenkot could not be more different than Netanyahu. While Netanyahu has been known to make the headlines with his remarks, is image conscious, 66-year old Eisenkot has remained non-controversial.
Analysts say he is not charismatic, shorter and has an image that is completely opposite to Netanyahu. So, how did he become Netanyahu’s main challenger?
“Eisenkot understands security. He has served in the military for 35 years. He knows what to do. He understands the priorities and this has only added to his popularity across Israel,” says Israeli journalist Yaron Decel.
Security has been the talking point in this year’s election. Netanyahu has tried to portray Eisenkot as someone who, if elected, will undermine the country’s national security.
Eisenkot has made it clear in interviews and campaign speeches that he would end the Hamas rule in Gaza in not more than 18 months. But, he has taken a different stand on two other contentious issues in Israel.
The Yashar party leader has said that he will ensure the judicial overhaul, pushed by Netanyahu and his allies, is reversed. Netanyahu, before 7 October 2023, faced mass protests for the judicial overhaul he was trying to bring in. Eisenkot has also vowed to end the military service exemption for ultra-orthodox Jews.
Tuesday’s election, and the results that follow, will prove if Eisenkot is indeed “the right man in the right place at the right time”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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