Ex-Army Chief Tied With Netanyahu in Election to Unseat Longtime Premier
Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot and a multi-party opposition coalition are locked in a tight race against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel prepares for a general election on Tuesday. Recent polling places Eisenkot neck and neck with Netanyahu in the campaign’s final days, as a broad grouping of political parties attempts to unseat the veteran leader and his far-right allies.
Ex-general and former prime ministers form opposition front
Eisenkot, a 66-year-old former military chief who lost his son and two nephews in the Gaza war, has emerged as the principal challenger to Netanyahu after founding his party, Yashar, in 2025. His platform includes vows to end Hamas rule in Gaza within 18 months and crack down on violent West Bank settlers, alongside opposing the creation of a Palestinian state. The broader anti-Netanyahu movement includes former prime minister Naftali Bennett, whose Beyahad party is polling in third place, and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who previously served as prime minister in a 2022 power-sharing arrangement.
Bennett previously led a diverse coalition in 2021 that temporarily ended Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure before the government collapsed after a single year in office.
