Eisenkot Challenges Netanyahu in Tight Israeli Election

Gadi Eisenkot campaigned in Modi'in this week, asking Israelis to choose a leader who prioritizes action over rhetoric. The former defense chief of staff, who entered politics four years ago, represents Yashar, a party whose name translates to straight or direct. At the rally, he proposed US-style term limits for prime ministers, arguing that power tends to corrupt. Attendees praised his plain style. Noa Sadeh, 56, said she is tired of politicians who know how to talk and wants someone who will do the work.

The opposition bloc includes former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman. Both men are nationalist right figures who previously worked closely with Benjamin Netanyahu before falling out with him. On the far right, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party, Otzma Yehudit, also framed its pitch around the incumbent. Yishai Fleisher told voters in Bet Shemesh that Netanyahu drifts left and must be pulled to the right. He advocated for more settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, a ministry to encourage voluntary Palestinian departure, the death penalty, and more weapons for Jewish civilians.

Netanyahu has defined the campaign terms with posters that rhyme Yamin, or right, with Falastin. He places opposition leaders alongside heads of parties representing Palestinian citizens, who make up about a fifth of the population. The closing weeks focused on whether anti-Netanyahu Jewish parties, which polls show will outpoll his bloc but lack a majority, would rely on mainly Arab parties. Channel 14, a pro-Netanyahu outlet, helped keep his opponents on the defensive. This week, host Yinon Magal called Eisenkot a Moroccan monkey. Eisenkot did not use the slur in response, which admirers viewed as restraint while doubters saw it as a lack of understanding of his opponents.

Polls show the two camps running close, a result that puzzles many observers. The 7 October 2023 attacks occurred under Netanyahu’s watch. His war in Gaza killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, of whom Israel says a third were Hamas combatants, yet did not eradicate the group. Iran’s nuclear threat remains, and Netanyahu faces fallout from his attempt to curb the supreme court and an ongoing corruption trial. Oded Levi, who voted for Netanyahu in 2022 but attended the Eisenkot rally, said the current prime minister is responsible for those failures.

Netanyahu’s durability rests on a loyal base built over three decades. His allies claim army and intelligence chiefs kept him in the dark about the 2023 attack, a claim he says is unfounded. He is also viewed as a gifted coalition builder who may outmaneuver rivals in post-vote talks. Opposition hopes rest partly on liberal, secular expatriate Israelis flying home to vote. This group, which pollsters do not capture, could matter if the result turns on a single one the Knesset’s 120 seats.

On Thursday, a state ceremony marked the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Netanyahu stayed away and sent a low-ranking minister. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats and a former general, expressed optimism that opposition leaders could agree on a regional strategic process for long-term security. He avoided the words peace process, a term that has been tainted for many Israelis but has not vanished. A video shared widely this week showed scores of young Israelis at a Negev music festival singing Shir LaShalom, the song Rabin sang before he was shot 31 years ago.