Updated Oct. 27, 2026, 12:49 a.m. ET
TEL AVIV − In Israel, he is cast as everything Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not: direct in his speech, unpolished in his manner, media-shy, working-class.
He doesn’t play political games. He is patient and disciplined, like a military commander waiting for the enemy to make a blunder.
Gadi Eisenkot, political analysts and those who know him say, is not brimming with magnetism. He is not image-obsessed. The name of the centrist Yashar! party that he leads translates to a meaning that sits somewhere unglamorously between “honest” and “straight.” Four years ago, he wasn’t even a politician.
But Eisenkot, 66, a former chief of staff in the Israel Defense Forces, may nevertheless have the best shot at unseating Netanyahu. Israelis vote on Oct. 27 in an election − the first since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks − that many in the Jewish state regard as the most significant in its 78-year history.
“He appears honest, and he’s modest,” said Shira Efron, an expert on Israel and the Middle East at RAND, a global policy think tank. “In a world of identity politics, Eisenkot is someone who, as the son of Jewish immigrant parents from Morocco, is relatable to several groups. Many parts of the Israeli public are fed up with Netanyahu’s slick image, his charismatic command of English and the way he goes around scaring everyone about Israel’s enemies.”
While Eisenkot is regarded as the main challenger to Netanyahu, his path to power is far from assured. Election trackers show Eisenkot’s party is ahead of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party. But Israel’s fragmented political landscape will require both candidates to form coalitions with parties whose core interests and ideologies don’t always align with one another. It is uncertain whether either bloc can form the next government.
Pollsters forecast Israel may be about to launch itself into a spiral of elections with no clear end.
Gadi Eisenkot wants to ‘save Israel’
Eisenkot’s roots set him apart from Netanyahu.
He belongs to Israel’s Mizrahi Jewish community, who have ancestral ties to the Middle East and North Africa. Netanyahu, by contrast, is Ashkenazi, with Polish-Lithuanian roots.
Israel has never had a Mizrahi prime minister. Its political establishment has been dominated by Ashkenazi Jews who are of European descent.
Eisenkot asserts he wants to become prime minister to “save Israel” from Netanyahu, who has been at the helm of Israel’s government for 19 of the past 30 years.
In that time, Netanyahu has steered Israel’s politics to the right and, his critics allege, even nudged it toward authoritarianism by pushing reforms to the country’s judiciary and legal system that would allow judges to be politically appointed, limiting checks on executive power. He has leaned into Israel’s reputation for military hawkishness by waging a retaliatory war in Gaza against Hamas that has killed tens of thousands of civilians.
He has long vowed to smash Iran’s nuclear program. This year, he tried to do just that.
Netanyahu has also overseen expansions to Jewish settlements on Palestinian-claimed land in the occupied West Bank in order to satisfy nationalist and religious members of his governing bloc, on whom he relies to stay in power.
Opinion polls show that many Israelis blame Netanyahu for Oct. 7, the worst security failure in the country’s history, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage back to Gaza. He is on trial for corruption allegations, which he denies.
His political playbook is one his supporters revere for its brash, combative and uncompromising style. They argue his judicial overhaul is intended to restore power to elected representatives constrained by “activist” courts. They also embrace his close relationship with President Donald Trump, whom they view as a point of comparison and a friend of Israel.
“The most crucial question, by far, is who will be Israel’s prime minister during President Trump’s last two years in office? Who will best cooperate and coordinate with the president to finish the job in Iran and expand peace in the region?” said Ophir Falk, a foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu.
“Trump wants to work with Netanyahu,” he added. “If someone else wins, Trump will divert his attention elsewhere.”
The anti-Netanyahu
In Eisenkot, many of his supporters and those he has worked alongside say what you see is what you get.
“He’s humble,” said Giora Inbar, a former Israel Defense Forces brigadier-general who was Eisenkot’s commanding officer when they served together in wars in Lebanon. That professional relationship evolved into a personal one.
They are in regular text contact and meet weekly for coffee when Eisenkot’s schedule allows. Inbar recounted several stories about Eisenkot in the military that all ended with the same point: he puts others ahead of himself.
He, too, has said this.
“I was taught, and it’s how I conducted myself throughout my military service: When things go well, put the people who made it happen out front,” Eisenkot said on a podcast after calling Netanyahu an “anti-leader” for attempting to associate himself in an airport photo op with Israeli passengers who overpowered the copilot of a FlyDubai jet en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The copilot attacked the captain and tried to crash the plane.
“When things go wrong, step forward and take responsibility. This is the exact opposite of Netanyahu,” he said.
“I’m not aware of anyone who really knows Gadi who’s heard him tell a lie,” added Inbar. “I mean, we’re worried about it because he’s never been tested. If he wins, he’s going to need a sharp team around him for political fights.”
Inbar said Eisenkot decided to seek election after his son and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza. Supporters point to the way he publicly handled those losses as part of his appeal.
In a television interview, Eisenkot said he “hopes to be worthy” of the price paid by his son “so that there could be a better reality here for our children.”
Eisenkot could change Israel. But how much?
Still, the former general is no peacenik.
He served in the military for more than 40 years, leading troops in the occupied West Bank from 2000 to 2005 during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, as well as in Lebanon during the 2006 war against Hezbollah.
Eisenkot is the de facto architect of Israel’s so-called Dahiya doctrine, named after a one-time Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. That doctrine calls for Israel to pursue asymmetric warfare and the disproportionate use of military force against Israel’s enemies, including, if necessary, targeting civilian infrastructure.
It is a tactic that Israel has deployed in Gaza, though Israel vehemently disputes that it deliberately targets civilians.
Still, Efron, the RAND analyst, said there will be notable differences with an Eisenkot-led government.
For one, he’s gone on record saying he’d prefer to pursue diplomacy with Iran.
She said he would probably restore “functional ties” with the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah party-controlled body in the occupied West Bank that exercises partial civilian control over the territory, though not in Gaza.
“I think we would see a real commitment to Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza,” she said.
That plan has largely stalled amid Israel’s ongoing operations there and sequencing disputes with Hamas.
“He speaks about Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and he uses that term even when there’s an election on,” Efron said, referring to a surge in Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians that have taken place over the last fours year and beyond under Netanyahu, including this year during the Palestinians’ annual olive harvest.
Kim Hjelmgaard is an investigative journalist covering global stories for USA TODAY, from living rooms to conflict zones. He is based in London.
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