Former 'Israeli' Military Chief Gadi Eisenkot runs for PM

• Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as a leading challenger to Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Polls show Eisenkot's Yashar party running close to Netanyahu's Likud.
• Despite his outsider image, Eisenkot is known for a hawkish security stance.
• Analysts say Netanyahu remains a formidable contender despite the shifting polls.

Former 'Israeli' military chief Gadi Eisenkot has surged in domestic opinion polls, positioning his newly established political party as a primary challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in 'Israel's' upcoming general election.

The political rise of the 66-year-old former general comes amid widespread domestic dissatisfaction following the events of the October 7, 2023, and the subsequent inconclusive military campaigns waged in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

Hawkish defense doctrine

While Eisenkot is running as a political outsider under the banner of his new party, Yashar (the Hebrew word for straight or honest), his platform offers no relaxation of 'Israel's' aggressive regional security policies.

Eisenkot has publicly criticized Netanyahu from the right, arguing that the Prime Minister bowed too readily to international pressure for a ceasefire in Lebanon during the Iran conflict. He has also dismissed international demands for a Palestinian state as "irrelevant."

As a senior commander during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Eisenkot pioneered the "Dahiyeh doctrine", a deterrent military strategy that advocates for responding to cross-border attacks with overwhelming, disproportionate destruction of infrastructure in enemy-controlled areas.

Speaking at a conference this week, Eisenkot defended the strategy, explicitly stating that he had implemented the doctrine with "disproportionate strikes" and asserting that the current U.S.-backed ceasefire had created an "insane reality" that restricted 'Israeli' forces.

Personal sacrifice 

Eisenkot’s political momentum is driven in part by a distinct personal profile that contrasts with Netanyahu's long tenure and ongoing corruption cases.

Born to Moroccan immigrant parents, the former general is making significant gains among Mizrahi (Middle Eastern and North African) Jewish voters, a demographic group that has historically served as a foundational voting bloc for Netanyahu.

Furthermore, Eisenkot’s extensive military career -culminating in his tenure as 'Israeli' military Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2019- is reinforced by recent personal loss.

His 25-year-old son, Gal Meir, was killed in action in Gaza in December 2023, and two of his nephews were also killed in the conflict.

These losses have resonated strongly with an 'Israeli' public weary of a three-year multi-front war that has claimed hundreds of their soldiers.

"He comes across as a genuine person," said Eitan Shamir, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. "He's very likable, not a politician, an everyday person... Someone that can be your neighbor or coworker."

Path to a governing coalition

While no formal date has been set for the elections -which must take place by late October- recent polling numbers indicate a deadlock.

Although Netanyahu's camp has attempted to undermine Eisenkot by mocking his accented English and questioning his diplomatic capabilities, Yashar has continued to gain roughly one seat per week in the polls, matching Likud's projected numbers.

Under 'Israel's' parliamentary system, securing the most seats does not automatically guarantee power; a candidate must successfully patch together a 61-seat majority within the 120-member Knesset.

Analysts note that while Yashar and Likud are statistically tied, Eisenkot’s centrist positioning makes his party better suited to form alliances across a broader spectrum, including left-wing parties and factions favoring the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens.

However, political experts warn against predicting an early defeat for the incumbent. "Netanyahu in a way is like a political Houdini," noted Tamar Hermann, an 'Israeli' political scientist and senior fellow at the 'Israel' Democracy Institute. "He manages in a way to get out of unfathomable corners."