# Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot emerges as Netanyahu’s leading election challenger

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/former-idf-chief-gadi-eisenkot-emerges-as-netanyahus-leading-election-challenger/
- Published: 2026-10-25T10:00:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T11:24:25+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/world/former-israeli-army-chief-gadi-eisenkot-emerges-netanyahus-leading-election-challenger
- Topics: Elections, Middle East, Politics, World

## Key points

- Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has a narrow polling lead over Likud.
- Either party needs 61 seats to form a governing coalition.
- Eisenkot’s military record includes both achievements and criticism over 7 October.

## Summary

Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as Benjamin Netanyahu’s leading challenger ahead of Israel’s 27 October election, with polls cited in the article giving his centrist Yashar party a narrow lead over Likud. Either party would need to assemble a coalition of at least 61 seats to govern. Eisenkot’s military background and reputation for modesty may appeal to voters, though his record also faces scrutiny.

Eisenkot, 66, served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. He resigned eight months later, saying Netanyahu had failed to set a comprehensive strategy; his son and two nephews were killed in the war. A military historian quoted in the article says Eisenkot bears responsibility for decisions made before the 7 October attack, despite the army’s later military successes.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.