Israel’s political history is littered with the unaccomplished ambitions of former generals. In a country where the armed forces are held in the highest esteem, army chiefs commonly think their military gravitas will translate into political success. Yet out of Israel’s 14 prime ministers, only three were generals. The last, Ariel Sharon, was elected more than 25 years ago.
The latest to throw his beret in the ring is Gadi Eisenkot, who was Israel’s chief-of-staff from 2015-19, and who later served as a minister after the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. He later left the government to set up his own party, called ‘Yashar,’ which is Hebrew for ‘straight’ or ‘honest’. Polls put him neck-and-neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Channel 12 as of 13 July 2026 put him at 43% with Netanyahu on 34%, while a Channel 13 poll gave Yashar 23 seats to Likud’s 22.
In many ways, Eisenkot has emerged as the “anti-Bibi” (a reference to Netanyahu’s nickname). His image is of stoic, almost pained authority whose sobriety offers a stark alternative to the theatrics of the current ruling coalition. Netanyahu is often criticised as a man who puts his own interests before the nation’s, but Eisenkot’s idea of public service rooted in military discipline and personal bereavement, having lost his son, Gal, to fighting in the Gaza Strip in 2023. He also lost two nephews in the same war.
The Eisenkot brand
The former army chief is known for his modest origins, a man who came from the periphery, served his country, and climbed the ranks, from footsoldier to top commander. The son of Moroccan immigrants, grew up in the small port city of Eilat, and served in the Golani Brigade (Netanyahu and another former prime minister, Ehud Barak, both served in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit).
Outside Israel, Eisenkot’s name is associated with the infamous ‘Dahiyeh Doctrine,’ named after the southern suburb of Beirut. This advocates the use of disproportionate force and the destruction of civilian infrastructure to create deterrence. As a result, Eisenkot is often branded as a hawk, an aggressive general who uses force to resolve problems. The reality is slightly more nuanced.
Eisenkot’s term as chief-of-staff was one of the quietest in the last two decades. His first action upon joining Netanyahu’ ‘war cabinet’ in 2023 was to oppose a surprise attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon which would have expanded the war to the north, which is what Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wanted to do. In his choices, he showed pragmatism, but politically he remains relatively untested.
Netanyahu has kept power for so long in part by positioning himself as the champion of the “voiceless Mizrahim” (Jews from North Africa and the Arab world) against a perceived ‘deep state’ run by an Ashkenazi (Jews from Europe) elite. Yet Eisenkot was born in 1960 to a family of Moroccan origin, then raised as far from the corridors of power in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as it is possible to get in Israel, so being both Mizrahi and an outsider has rather stolen Netanyahu’s thunder.
Four decades of war
The young Eisenkot studied in the naval-and-mechanics track at a technical high school and enlisted in 1978 into the Golani Brigade's 51st Battalion. “Every year I thought about quitting, but then I signed up for another year,” he once told his local newspaper. “It turned into 33 years in uniform.” The idea of a man of patient accumulation, rather than bold strokes, recurs throughout his career.
He fought in the 1982 Lebanon War as a company commander, present at the brutal fighting for Beirut’s airport, where he lost close friends. He was wounded three times but none of the injuries were career-ending. He rose through Golani’s chain of command, from reserve infantry brigades and the Efraim Regional Brigade. In 1999, he took on a high-visibility post: military secretary to Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, where he sat in on negotiations with Syria.
