Eisenkot challenges Netanyahu as Israel heads to election
publishers 26articles 45first reported 18 Oct, 00:05 UTCdeveloping since 18 Oct · 13 editions
Israelis vote Tuesday in an election that pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose new centrist Yashar party leads Likud in several polls.
Recent projections give Yashar about 20 to 23 seats in the 120-member Knesset. However, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor his opponents appear on course to secure the 61 seats required for a majority, leaving coalition negotiations likely to determine who governs.
Eisenkot, 66, served as military chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and entered politics with Benny Gantz’s National Unity party in 2022. He joined Netanyahu’s emergency government and war cabinet after the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, but resigned in June 2024, accusing the prime minister of lacking a postwar strategy. Eisenkot founded Yashar in 2025.
His campaign promises a state inquiry into the October 7 failures, broader national service including for ultra-Orthodox Jews, and action against violent West Bank settlers. He supports removing Hamas from power in Gaza and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while opposing both a Palestinian state and formal Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
The son of Moroccan immigrants, Eisenkot has emphasized his Mizrahi heritage while campaigning in traditional Likud strongholds. If he becomes prime minister, he would be Israel’s first Mizrahi prime minister. His campaign has also drawn on his personal wartime loss: his son Gal and two nephews were killed during the Gaza war.
U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu on Sunday, calling any alternative the “wrong leader.”
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 7 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 174 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 26
- Source articles
- 45
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 7
- This version written
- 174 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Narrow the historical first to the specific office supported by the sources. - "If he becomes prime minister, he would be Israel’s first Mizrahi leader.": The sources support that he would be Israel’s first Mizrahi prime minister, not the broader claim that he would be the country’s first Mizrahi leader.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Eisenkot challenges Netanyahu as Israel heads to election
Israelis vote Tuesday in an election that pits Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose new centrist Yashar party leads Likud in several polls.
Recent projections give Yashar about 20 to 23 seats in the 120-member Knesset. However, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor his opponents appear on course to secure the 61 seats required for a majority, leaving coalition negotiations likely to determine who governs.
Eisenkot, 66, served as military chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and entered politics with Benny Gantz’s National Unity party in 2022. He joined Netanyahu’s emergency government and war cabinet after the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, but resigned in June 2024, accusing the prime minister of lacking a postwar strategy. Eisenkot founded Yashar in 2025.
His campaign promises a state inquiry into the October 7 failures, broader national service including for ultra-Orthodox Jews, and action against violent West Bank settlers. He supports removing Hamas from power in Gaza and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while opposing both a Palestinian state and formal Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
The son of Moroccan immigrants, Eisenkot has emphasized his Mizrahi heritage while campaigning in traditional Likud strongholds. If he becomes prime minister, he would be Israel’s first Mizrahi leader.prime minister. His campaign has also drawn on his personal wartime loss: his son Gal and two nephews were killed during the Gaza war.
U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu on Sunday, calling any alternative the “wrong leader.”
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →