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by Yara Hawari,
Despite Gadi Eisenkot emerging as Netanyahu’s strongest challenger in the Israeli elections, his political agenda won’t change the current genocidal course.
The electoral slates for the upcoming Israeli Knesset elections are in. A total of 38 parties have submitted their candidate lists, and while a few new names have emerged, the lists themselves hold no major surprises. The real surprise has been who is emerging as Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest challenger.
For months, that role belonged to Naftali Bennett, who had a short stint as Prime Minister between 2021-22. Bennett and Yair Lapid have formed B’Yachad, a centre-right anti-Netanyahu party. But a relative newcomer has completely overtaken both: Gadi Eisenkot.
Eisenkot spent four years as Israeli army chief of staff before establishing a new centre-right political party, Yashar, in 2025. Yashar has surged in the polls ever since, and Eisenkot is now the frontrunner to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu.
Eisenkot is being pitched as the polar opposite of Netanyahu: where many see the latter as a slick, elitist politician, Eisenkot is cast as a straight-talking, blue-collar man. Eisenkot’s team are also highlighting his personal sacrifice. His son died taking part in the genocide in Gaza, whilst Netanyahu’s son, Yair, has avoided being called up for reserve duty – and has spent much of his time since 2023 in Miami. All of this paints a contrasting image of Netanyahu, one that does not reek of corruption or elitism.
Scratch the surface, however, and the two differ very little on the fundamentals. Unsurprisingly, Eisenkot is an avid supporter of the expansion of the settlement enterprise and the genocidal policy in Gaza. What is less well-known is that, as head of the Israeli army northern command in 2006, he was the one who articulated the Dahyieh Doctrine in Lebanon. Named after a neighbourhood in Beirut that was flattened by the Israeli army, this doctrine is a military tactic that calls for the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. International law has condemned it as illegal.
That underlying convergence is easy to miss beneath the noise of the election campaigns, with both Eisenkot and Netanyahu fighting aggressive publicity campaigns. This will be the first election since the start of the genocide in Gaza and will prove to be a real test for Netanyahu, whose coalition is being undone at the seams.
Indeed, Israeli politics is all about coalition; no government has been formed without one, and everyone is competing to show the Israeli public who is more genocidal.
That competition has played out most starkly on social media over the last few months. In late August, Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister and a key figure in Netanyahu’s coalition, posted an AI campaign video in which he mocked Palestinians and called for the Judaizing of the Negev and the Galilee – areas which have large populations of Palestinian citizens of Israel.
In another AI video posted by Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israeli internal security minister and another key figure in Netanyahu’s coalition, depicted Palestinian political prisoners on an industrial conveyor belt entering into an Israeli prison and coming out emaciated. This reality has already been well documented. The caption to the video read ‘we promised – we delivered ‘. It amassed four million views before Ben Gvir’s account took it down.
Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir are vital to Netanyahu’s coalition. However, recent spats have threatened that unity. Ben Gvir has refused to enter into an alliance with Smotrich’s party, which could leave it below the election threshold. At the same time, Ben Gvir has also accused Netanyahu of plotting with Eisenkot to form a coalition behind their backs. These cracks could prove to be the final undoing of Netanyahu’s political career.
Meanwhile, his opponents are also throwing everything they have at him. One of the key weapons in the anti-Netanyahu politicians’ arsenal is the accusation that he knew 7 October was going to happen. Haaretz recently published convincing new details on this in an exposé. According to the Israeli newspaper, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed called Netanyahu and warned him, in a 45-minute conversation, of a major operation being planned by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Netanyahu reportedly responded that he believed that any threat would be confined to the West Bank and that the Israeli regime was prepared.
The authors of the exposé conclude that Netanyahu did not take the warning seriously; he did not brief Shin Bet, Mossad or the army heads. This has also since been corroborated. Since the publication of this report, Netanyahu’s office denounced the story and has filed a defamation claim against Haaretz. But there’s no doubt serious damage has been done.
Nevertheless, being reviled is not the same as being defeated. Netanyahu has a remarkable ability to survive, not least because his opponents have repeatedly failed to come together. What we can be sure of is that, whichever way this election plays out, the contest is only between politicians who have no interest in ending the genocide in Gaza; the only difference will be how they will continue to manage it.
Yara Hawari is the Co-Director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.
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