Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party leads polls ahead of Israel’s 2026 election

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, is projected to win 20 of 120 parliamentary seats in Israel's October 27, 2026 election, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, with his campaign centered on ending the ongoing wars and ousting Netanyahu. Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff, has criticized Netanyahu for lacking a clear strategy and waging "forever wars," while promising a commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 security failure. He has also vowed to end Hamas's rule in Gaza within 18 months of taking office. The 66-year-old, who lost his son and two nephews in the Gaza war, opposes a two-state solution and has shown little inclination to include Arab parties in a coalition, leaving his path to becoming Israel's first Mizrahi prime minister uncertain without a clear majority.