Eisenkot’s Quiet Campaign: A Military Veteran’s Bid to Unseat Netanyahu

Gadi Eisenkot, the leading contender to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cuts a distinct figure in Israeli politics. Almost invariably dressed in plain black, the 66-year-old former military chief of staff speaks halting English and, reflecting a career steeped in military discipline, often responds to questions in structured bullet points.

For a segment of the electorate, Eisenkot’s lack of traditional charisma is precisely his greatest asset. Serious and unassuming, he presents a stark contrast to Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving premier, whose flawless American-accented English and mastery of the soundbite have long dominated the political stage.

Eisenkot, who served as chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, has centered his campaign on a promise to heal a fractured society after a divisive Netanyahu tenure that shifted the country sharply rightward. “There is a large camp in Israel whose main goal in the coming election is just for things to be calmer,” observed Tal Elovits, a researcher at the Molad think tank. “The middle class is looking for someone who will look responsible, boring. I think Eisenkot has that appeal.”

Running neck-and-neck with Netanyahu in polls, Eisenkot has pledged to repair Israel’s battered international standing, strained by three years of war in Gaza and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. He has vowed to crack down on settler attacks against Palestinians—incidents he has labeled “Jewish terror” abetted by the current government—citing recent assaults on an American journalist and a French mayor.

However, Eisenkot is no dovish alternative. He has positioned himself to Netanyahu’s right on the Palestinian issue, explicitly ruling out a Palestinian state and replaying footage of Netanyahu’s own past reluctance toward the idea. As chief of staff during the 2006 Lebanon War, Eisenkot authored the “Dahiya doctrine,” advocating massive force against civilian infrastructure used by Hezbollah—a strategy critics say has been reapplied in Gaza with devastating consequences, allegations Israel disputes.

Working-Class Roots and Personal Tragedy

Eisenkot’s candidacy has been bolstered by profound personal sacrifice; his son Gal and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza, earning him widespread public sympathy. His biography offers a historic contrast: he would be Israel’s first Sephardic prime minister, the son of Moroccan Jews who grew up on the country’s geographic periphery. Netanyahu, by contrast, hails from an elite academic family with deep ties to the United States.

This background sparked controversy when a commentator on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 dismissed Eisenkot as a “monkey” controlled by “Ashkenazi elitists”—a reference to Jews of European descent who have historically dominated Israel’s institutions. While the Hebrew term can imply a “fall guy” rather than a racial slur, the remark drew broad condemnation, including from Netanyahu. Eisenkot swiftly capitalized, erecting billboards denouncing anti-Sephardic discrimination and accusing Likud of sidelining its own Sephardic members.

Security Continuity with Tactical Shifts

Eisenkot’s platform reveals limited deviation from current security doctrine. In a span of days, he courted LGBTQ activists with promises of greater protections and met with religious Zionists to affirm West Bank settlements as a “value,” provided they serve state interests and adhere to the law—a stance appearing to reject unauthorized outposts driving recent violence.

Regarding Gaza, he has vowed to end Hamas rule within 18 months, either through the implementation of a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan envisioning gradual disarmament, or via “creative operations” targeting the group’s military wing. Addressing a major domestic grievance, Eisenkot has promised a “universal national service law” to mandate military or civil service for ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens, curbing broad exemptions for religious students. He has also pledged to safeguard judicial independence, the rule of law, minority rights, and a free press to appeal to centrist and liberal voters.

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