Gadi Eisenkot: Ex-IDF chief challenging Netanyahu in Israel's election

Retired Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot is challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's October 27 election, with polls showing his centrist Yashar party holding a narrow lead over Netanyahu's Likud. The election outcome will determine who can form a coalition government with a 61-seat majority. Eisenkot, 66, served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 after a career in the elite Golani Brigade. He joined Netanyahu's war cabinet after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack but resigned after eight months, citing a lack of comprehensive strategy. His son and two nephews were killed during the war. If elected, Eisenkot would be Israel's first prime minister of Moroccan origin. Analysts describe him as a humble, honest figure who is the "antithesis" of a typical politician, though some critics note he bears responsibility for the IDF's failures on October 7, 2023.