Gadi Eisenkot challenges Netanyahu with the Yashar party: the new centrist force in Israel
The new centrist party, Yashar (“Straight”), founded last year following a split with Benny Gantz, holds a slight lead over Likud: 24 seats to 23 in the Knesset
Gadi Eisenkot, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces and former minister, is the candidate challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, according to some polls reviewed by the Financial Times, could even overtake him in the polls.
Eisenkot’s new centrist party, Yashar (“Straight”), founded last year following his split with Benny Gantz and his resignation from the Knesset, has outperformed Netanyahu’s Likud in recent polls, establishing itself as a potential leading party in the next parliamentary term.
A poll by the public broadcaster Kan gives Yashar a slight lead over Likud: 24 seats to 23 in the Knesset, which has 120 members. Eisenkot himself also consistently leads Netanyahu when respondents are asked who would be the most suitable candidate for the post of prime minister.
As he has done with other political rivals, Netanyahu has sought to portray Eisenkot as a member of the radical left, accusing him of being prepared to form an alliance with Arab parties and of jeopardising Israel’s security.
Eisenkot rejected this portrayal, instead emphasising his credentials as a security expert. Born into a family of Moroccan immigrants in the southern city of Eilat, he grew up in an environment far removed from the elites of northern Tel Aviv and the Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem, where the Netanyahu family resides.
