Gadi Eisenkot Launches Yashar Campaign, Vows October 7 Inquiry and Replace Netanyahu Government

Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot launched his Yashar party’s election campaign on Tuesday, vowing to be a unifying leader and replace a government he accused of creating “chaos.”

“At a time when Israel is headed toward elections that seem the most complex in years, former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot emerges as the most prominent variable in the political scene, after he managed in a few weeks to become a direct competitor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”

Al-Jazeera Net

Eisenkot said “This coming October, the government of the terrible October will come to its end,” referring to the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Al-Jazeera Net

He promised to immediately form a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas-led massacres in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were abducted to Gaza.

Eisenkot also pledged to “care for anyone physically or mentally harmed during the war,” while introducing a plan that would cap reserve service at 50 days per year.

In a campaign launch framing, he attacked the current leadership for refusing “to take responsibility for its failures, even at the risk that failing to investigate them could lead to their recurrence,” and pledged the same October 7 inquiry if elected.

As Netanyahu’s Likud campaign leaned into anti-Arab messaging, its official X account posted four words—“There is no Gadi without Tibi.”—alongside an AI-generated, 11-second clip featuring Gadi Eisenkot and Ahmad Tibi.

The post underscored Likud’s framing that Netanyahu would rely on anti-Arab rhetoric and that Eisenkot is the main political threat to the country’s longest-serving leader.

CNN

Eisenkot’s campaign messaging, as described by CNN, positioned him as Netanyahu’s “polar opposite,” with a style that is “soft spoken, understated and undramatic.”

CNN also cited a Channel 12 poll projecting Eisenkot at 21 seats in the Knesset, behind Likud’s 23 and ahead of Bennett-Lapid’s 18, and said 38% of respondents named Eisenkot as better suited to serve as prime minister versus 36% for Netanyahu.

In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net described Eisenkot’s rise as a variable that “redraw[s] the balance of power within the center and the opposition,” while saying his party “يشار” continued to strengthen its political presence in the Knesset.

Eisenkot’s campaign tied the Gaza war to a broader political reckoning, promising a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and saying its conclusions would be used to “learn from the past and prepare for the future.”

“Trending: US-Iran war US Supreme court decisions FIFA World Cup 2026 Europe heatwave Khamenei funeral advertisement Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the ex-IDF chief emerging as Netanyahu's biggest challenger”

Firstpost

He also vowed to rehabilitate the north and south and to “care for anyone physically or mentally harmed during the war,” while arguing his approach would replace what he called a leadership “devoid of any vision and strategy.”

The Times of Israel reported that Eisenkot introduced a plan to cap reserve service at 50 days per year and “grow the ranks of the military,” aiming to ease the burden on reservists after being forced to serve hundreds of days.

In the campaign’s political stakes, CNN said Likud’s messaging treated Eisenkot as Netanyahu’s primary rival after previously focusing on Bennett, while also noting that Netanyahu, 76, and Eisenkot, 66, were being contrasted in public attacks and campaign videos.

Al-Jazeera Net added that Eisenkot’s rise comes as Israel’s elections appear “the most complex in years,” with talk of early elections if the legislative path to dissolve the Knesset is completed.