Former army chief who lost family in Gaza could topple Netanyahu

Loss during the Gaza war

A year later, a second nephew, Captain Yogev Pazy, was also killed. Eisenkot and other opposition figures have accused Netanyahu of disregarding intelligence warnings before the 7 October attacks and mishandling the military campaign; the prime minister’s office has called those claims false.

A military career and new party

He served 41 years in the Israeli military and studied history at Tel Aviv University and political science at the University of Haifa, followed by a stint at the US Army War College. His move into electoral politics began in 2022, and he later founded the centrist Yashar party.

Identity and campaign appeal

Eisenkot married Hannah in 1984, and they raised five children in Herzliya. Israel has never had a Mizrahi prime minister, making his potential election a historic prospect. Netanyahu’s campaign released an advertisement mocking Eisenkot’s accented English. The move prompted widespread revulsion, with voters from across the Mizrahi community rallying behind Eisenkot amid longstanding complaints of discrimination by Ashkenazi establishments.

The challenge of forming a government

Eisenkot’s resignation letter to Netanyahu said government decisions were not always driven by national considerations, and warned that political and foreign considerations influenced decision-making. His campaign also released a satirical video game portraying a sleepwalking Netanyahu passing emergency alerts.

After polling in single digits barely a year ago, Eisenkot has become the opposition’s consensus champion for the 27 October vote. Israel Democracy Institute polling finds his premiership has the broadest public acceptance, but the largest party does not automatically get the mandate to govern.

The mandate goes to the person considered most able to assemble a 61-seat majority. If neither Eisenkot’s anti-Netanyahu alliance nor Netanyahu’s hard-right religious bloc can reach that threshold, Israel could face another hung parliament.