Netanyahu’s main rival accuses him of putting politics before security

Gadi Eisenkot, Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival, has sharpened his attack on the prime minister, accusing him of putting political survival ahead of Israel’s security as the country approaches its Oct. 27 election.

At a rally in Rosh Haayin, a central Israeli city, Eisenkot unveiled the candidates of his Yashar party. The former military commander did not outline how he would handle the Palestinian issue or the wars against Iran and Lebanon launched by Netanyahu. Instead, he focused on what he described as Netanyahu’s failure to accept responsibility during the nearly three years since the Hamas attack.

Eisenkot entered politics relatively recently, but Yashar, founded a year ago, has risen sharply in recent polls. Many voters now view the party as a credible alternative to Netanyahu because of Eisenkot’s military background.

He promised to end the divisions that have gripped Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, particularly over Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza, where Israeli hostages were held, and over the country’s other fronts. “In the face of the great rift that opened on October 7, and in the face of the immense challenges before the State of Israel, I believe we need a leadership that knows how to rise to the magnitude of the hour, that knows how to unite and bring unity around what we share, and to fundamentally restore the principles of stateliness and Zionism,” Eisenkot said.

A poll published Sunday by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan projected Yashar to win 23 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, narrowly ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud with 20. The anti-Netanyahu bloc was projected to win 51 seats, compared with 52 for Likud and its coalition partners. Neither side would reach the 61-seat majority required to govern without support from unaligned parties, including two Arab-majority lists projected to hold 13 seats together.

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In the face of the great rift that opened on October 7, and in the face of the immense challenges before the State of Israel, I believe we need a leadership that knows how to rise to the magnitude of the hour, that knows how to unite and bring unity around what we share, and to fundamentally restore the principles of stateliness and Zionism.