Israeli PM Netanyahu and challenger Gadi Eisenkot have very different views on how to end the Iran war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot have offered vastly different ideas on how to end the Iran war — as polls are set to open in hours to decide the country’s next leader . Eisenkot has said he believes economic pressure is currently the best way to defeat Iran, and backs strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, but not a return to all-out war. 4 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Israeli Air Force pilots and ground crews during a visit to Tel Nof Air Base in Tel Nof, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026.

Zuma / SplashNews.com Netanyahu, meanwhile, has remained adamant that Israel must wipe out the current regime in Tehran to secure the safety of the Jewish state — going as far as to post an AI-generated image of a nuclear bomb destroying Tel Aviv on Sunday to get his point across. The prime minister has also reportedly pushed for joint US-Israel strikes on Iran prior to the elections, but Washington has refused to do so yet as President Trump weighs his options, according to CNN.

“Netanyahu really wanted and tried to convince Trump for a joint attack in Iran before the elections, and Trump did not give a green light,” one Israeli source told the outlet. Netanyahu’s office slammed the report as “fake news,” but the prime minister has been accused of trying to restart the war in hopes of postponing the elections as he faces a tight race against Eisenkot’s opposition coalition. 4 An AI-gNetanyahu pushes for all-out war and regime change in Tehran, while Eisenkot favors economic pressure and targeted strikes on nuclear facilities.

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He has long criticized the prime minister’s approach to war as poorly planned, with Israel facing three fronts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran earlier this year. 4 Gadi Eisenkot, Israel’s former military chief of staff and leader of the Yashar party, addresses supporters at the party’s final campaign rally before the legislative election in Tel Aviv, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. AFP via Getty Images The former IDF chief said he supports Trump’s policy of “peace through strength,” telling The Post over the weekend that Iran must not be allowed to become “another North Korea.”

Despite favoring war in the past, Eisenkot now says Trump’s economic pressure has a better chance of giving the ruling mullahs “a sense of defeat” than a renewed military campaign. While Eisenkot backs renewed strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, he appears less hawkish than Netanyahu — who has repeatedly called for all-out war to resume and for the Islamic republic’s citizens to overthrow the government. “We have another two years of Trump to finish the work in Iran,” Netanyahu wrote on X. 4 Israeli emergency responders inspect a site hit by a missile fired from Iran south of Tel Aviv on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

AFP via Getty Images “Future generations will not forgive us if we miss the historic window of opportunity that allows us to try and complete the most critical mission facing our generation.” Netanyahu maintains that his ties with Trump and the US are the best protection Israel has, with Trump endorsing the prime minister last week. Eisenkot has repeatedly stated that Israel must focus on a future without relying on the US, claiming that Netanyahu is unable to defy Trump and act independently.

Iran and accountability over the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks remain among one of the few key issues between Eisenkot and Netanyahu, as the Israeli leaders are mostly aligned in the issues of Gaza and the West Bank.