Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF chief who is challenging Netanyahu in Israel?

JERUSALEM — Israel’s high-stakes October 27 election pits longest-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against highly decorated retired Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. Although he is relatively new to politics, Eisenkot has an impressive track record that could help him become the Jewish state’s next leader.

According to a number of polls, Eisenkot’s centrist political party, Yashar, has a slight lead over Netanyahu’s Likud. To form a government, Yashar or Likud will need to gather a majority of 61 seats to be able to form a new coalition government.

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Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, speaks behind a podium with a banner reading “Yashar with Eisenkot” during an event showcasing the party’s full list of candidates ahead of the October general election, September 7, 2026 in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. Eisenkot, a retired head of the Israel Defense Forces, has emerged as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)

Who is Eisenkot, 66 years old?

He was born in Tiberias, in northern Israel, to a Jewish-Moroccan family who moved to Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city on the Red Sea, when he was a child.

A career soldier, he chose to serve in the infantry. He was part of the elite Golani Brigade and reached the military’s zenith with his appointment in 2015 as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from 2015 to 2019.

Yossi Melman, one of Israel’s most respected intelligence and defense journalists, told Fox News Digital that Eisenkot “is 100 percent a soldier. He is very courageous and humble. He is an officer and a gentleman.”

Melman noted that when Eisenkot was chosen to be the next IDF chief of staff, he declined because he felt that General Benny Gantz should then receive the nomination. Melman asked: “How many people would do that? He was chosen after Gantz. It shows his traits of modesty, honesty and non-arrogance.”

Melman said: “It’s a miracle that he is leading in the polls. He is the antithesis of what a politician should be. He is not a great speaker when you compare him to Netanyahu. He radiates honesty.”

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Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot attends the Jerusalem Residents’ Conference on August 12, 2026 in Jerusalem. Gadi Eisenkot, retired head of the Israel Defense Forces and current leader of the Yashar party, has emerged as Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger ahead of October’s general election. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)

Eisenkot’s Mizrahi origins – Jews from North Africa and the Middle East – would mean, if he wins, that he would be the first Israeli prime minister of Moroccan descent. The post of Prime Minister has been held by Israelis of Eastern European origin (Ashkenazim) since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948.

After Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023 and massacred more than 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet as minister without portfolio.

Melman said Eisenkot “set no political conditions” and that “his presence in the cabinet saved Netanyahu.” After eight months of service in the war cabinet, Eisenkot resigned, accusing the prime minister of failing to implement a comprehensive strategy.

The war against the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist movement has taken a heavy toll on battle-hardened General Eisenkot and his family. Hamas killed his son, 25-year-old Master Sergeant Gal Eisenkot, in December 2023. The terrorist organization also killed two of Eisenkot’s nephews. Netanyahu and his wife Sara said at the time that they were devastated by Gal’s death and that Eisenkot was a “true hero.”

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Gadi Eisenkot, former Israeli army chief of staff and leader of the Yashar party, is seen at the Black Arrow memorial site near Kibbutz Mefalsim during a visit to deliver a statement near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 15, 2026, ahead of Israel’s parliamentary elections. (Ilia Efimovitch/AFP via Getty Images)

Danny Orbach, a military historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave his views on the main contender to replace Netanyahu. “I think his military record and his prospects as a national leader have both important strengths and serious weaknesses. He bears considerable responsibility for shaping the Israeli army that existed on October 7, 2023. And it was, paradoxically, both the army that proved capable of defeating Hezbollah, striking Iran, and achieving unprecedented military successes on the extraordinarily difficult, tunnel-riddled battlefield of Gaza, and the army which failed so miserably on October 7.”

He added: “Like other chiefs of staff, Eisenkot bears responsibility for decisions that reduced the size of the army and the notorious “conceptzia” (Hebrew word for concept) regarding Hamas. In this regard, I consider him just as guilty as Netanyahu.

Israel’s military, intelligence services and political institutions have bought into the “concept” that Hamas could be destroyed through massive injections of economic aid. Hamas, however, was committed to its radical Islamist ideology – the destruction of the Jewish state – and used the funds to advance its war aims.

Orbach noted that “I don’t think the bulk of Eisenkot’s support comes from his energy, his enthusiasm or even his political agenda. My impression is that Eisenkot has emerged as the default ‘non-Bibi’ candidate, the politician who is currently channeling much of the camp’s hopes and expectations.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot (L) give a news conference in Tel Aviv, December 4, 2018. The Israeli military said today it had discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to increase tensions with the Iran-backed group. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Orbach added that “I also doubt that Eisenkot had the political determination to stand up to the Biden administration on such issues.”

Netanyahu and former President Biden clashed repeatedly over Biden’s attempts to join forces with Israel’s efforts to defeat Iran’s seven-front war against the Jewish state.

The military historian noted, however, that “I think an Eisenkot government could solve many of Israel’s most pressing problems.” He would remove Ben Gvir from power, confront the growing problem of Jewish extremist violence and terrorism in the West Bank, and begin to repair Israel’s badly damaged international legitimacy. »

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Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot attends the funeral of his son, First Sergeant Major Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, at the Herzliya Cemetery, December 8, 2023, in Herzliya, Israel. The Israeli military said the 25-year-old major, son of minister and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, died Thursday in Gaza. (Dima Vazinovich / Middle East Images / Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images))

Eisenkot’s wife, Hannah, comes from a Jewish American family. U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford awarded Eisenkot the Legion of Merit for his “exceptionally meritorious service as IDF Chief of Staff” and his “contribution to strategic cooperation between the United States and Israel (which) will have a lasting effect on both countries,” according to the Washington Institute, where Eisenkot served as a military officer in 2019.

Nadav Eyal, an Israeli analyst and journalist for the popular Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth, told Fox News Digital that Gadi Eisenkot is widely considered one of the most successful chiefs of staff Israel has had over the past three decades.

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Israel’s new chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2015. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

He added that “the chiefs of staff in Israel, unlike other countries, are generally extremely capable of being prime minister. They lead the largest organization in the country, the Israeli army.”

Eyal, who writes extensively on the IDF, credited Eisenkot’s military planning against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon and the significant defeats suffered by the Lebanese Shiite entity, including the “discovery of tunnels built by Hezbollah” to enter Israel. Hezbollah immediately joined Hamas’ war against Israel in October 2023.

Given the nature of Israel’s electoral system, the outright winner will likely not be known for several days, since the dominant party will need to form a coalition to secure the 61-seat mandate to rule the country.