Eisenkot election billboard in Cyprus smeared with Palestinian colors

A Yashar party election billboard in Cyprus was smeared with the colors of the Palestinian flag late Friday, local media reported, with blood red splashed on the face of party head and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot.

The twin billboards display the Hebrew messages “Israelis, enjoy! You deserve it” and “Relaxed? Enjoyed? Now come back and win!” to passengers heading out of and into the Larnaca airport, respectively.

Both billboards showed Eisenkot’s face alongside an Israeli flag and the party name. Photos published by local media showed the “enjoy!” billboard daubed red, black and green, with the Israeli flag left largely untouched. There was no immediate comment from Yashar or Eisenkot.

The billboard campaign targets Israeli tourists who flock to the Mediterranean island for vacation, but sparked anger among locals when it went up along a highway between Larnaca and Limasol last week.

One Cypriot influencer-politician said the campaign infringes on the island nation’s sovereignty.

It is apparently the first-ever foreign political billboard campaign in Cyprus, though there are no legal restrictions on such advertising, according to local outlet Cyprus Mail.

הושחת שלט הדרכים של גדי איזנקוט ומפלגת "ישר!" שהוצב בקפריסין בין לרנקה ללימסול@DovGilHar

צילום עבור כאן חדשות: ליאון וידל pic.twitter.com/xTJuNBUCn3

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 3, 2026

Polls ahead of the October 27 Knesset election indicate the centrist Yashar will emerge as the largest parliamentary faction in the next election, making Eisenkot the presumptive candidate to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Eisenkot, who briefly joined the government as part of the Blue and White party at the start of the Gaza war, currently leads the political front that seeks to oust Netanyahu.

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