Eisenkot’s Yashar Party Leads October Polls as Ex-General Faces Scrutiny Over Gaza and Lebanon
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Eisenkot’s Yashar Party Leads October Polls as Ex-General Faces Scrutiny Over Gaza and Lebanon
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 10
Summary
October election polling has put Gadi Eisenkot and his new Yashar party ahead, elevating the former military chief as the main challenger to Benjamin Netanyahu.
International coverage has cast Eisenkot as an “anti-Netanyahu” moderate, but the report argues his record ties him to Israel’s wars rather than a policy break.
2023-24 war-cabinet service places Eisenkot inside Israel’s Gaza campaign, during which more than 30,000 Palestinians were killed; he later quit over strategy, not the death toll.
2018-19 Gaza border protests and the 2006 Lebanon war also shadow his rise: he oversaw the response to demonstrations in which more than 200 Palestinians were killed and was linked to the Dahiya doctrine.
June remarks rejecting a two-state solution and backing West Bank settlements reinforce the report’s broader claim that replacing Netanyahu could change Israel’s image more than its core policies.