Israel ex-army chief launches campaign in bid to unseat PM Netanyahu

NEVE YARAK, Israel - Israel’s former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot on June 30 announced the start of his electoral campaign as he bids to take over the seat of prime minister from veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Four months ahead of the planned polls, Eisenkot held his first electoral meeting, where he declared that “Israel deserves to open a new chapter. We will write it together.”

“For the future of Israel, we must ensure that next October, the ‘October 7‘ government ends its role in history,” he said, in reference to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that occurred under Netanyahu’s watch.

“We will open a new chapter in the history of Israel, a much better chapter, because Israel must win, and it will win,” he continued.

A sharp critic of Netanyahu’s policies and conduct during the Gaza war, Eisenkot founded his Yashar (Right in Hebrew) party in September 2023.

A poll on Israel’s Channel 12 this week predicted his party would clinch 22 out of 120 seats, right behind Netanyahu’s Likud party which was projected to win 24 seats.

The son of Moroccan Jewish migrants, Eisenkot enjoys popular support, especially as his son Gal died in combat in Gaza, as did two of his nephews.

The 66-year-old made his first foray into politics alongside Benny Gantz, also a former army chief, in 2022.

He has remained tight-lipped on his position regarding the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, having served as a member of Netanyahu’s war Cabinet from October 2023 until his resignation in June 2024.

“I believe that Israel needs an honest and dignified Zionist leadership, a political home for citizens who dream of a different Israel and wish to bequeath to their children and grandchildren a strong and secure country,” he declared on June 30, to applause.

“We will replace a leadership devoid of vision and strategy, which is leading the country toward a loss of direction,” he said. AFP