Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot leads polls as main challenger to Netanyahu in Israel's October 27 vote

Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, is the leading challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's national election on Tuesday, October 27. According to several opinion polls, his year-old centrist party, Yashar, is projected to win 20 of 120 parliamentary seats, ahead of Netanyahu's Likud. Israelis vote for parties, not individuals. Eisenkot, born to Moroccan immigrants in Tiberias and raised mostly in Eilat, is known for the Dahiya doctrine, which advocates disproportionate force where militants operate, and for criticizing Netanyahu's strategy months after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. His 25-year-old son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, and two nephews, Yogev Pazi and Maor Cohen Eisenkot, were killed in the Gaza war. Eisenkot called the vote the most critical since the state's founding and said he is convinced he will win.

CNN and The New York Times, on the left, present profiles centered on electoral prospects. CNN calls him the opposition's leading candidate against the incumbent. The Times stresses how unlike Netanyahu he is, notes he leads the polls, and says his low-key campaigning style worries supporters. Neither excerpt mentions his family losses or US relations. The New York Post, on the right, leads with his message to Americans about the deep bond between Israel and the US. It quotes him calling Israel a strategic asset, including against ISIS, and cites a Pew poll showing US support for Israel at 37% in April, down from 55% four years earlier. It also details his son's and nephews' deaths and omits any worry about his campaign style. Both sides agree he is the main challenger and that the vote is on October 27; they differ in emphasis, with the left on his contrast with Netanyahu and campaign style and the right on US ties and personal loss. The Hindu adds the seat projection and the Dahiya doctrine's international condemnation.