Israel Holds October 27 Election as Netanyahu Faces Likud Rivalry: 20 Sources (West Asian: 7)

Israel will hold parliamentary elections on October 27, with former military chief Gadi Eisenkot emerging as a significant challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A Channel 12 poll indicated Eisenkot’s new party, Yashar, ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud, projecting 23 seats to Likud’s 22. The election is widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Eisenkot’s platform focuses on restoring security, unity, and democratic institutions, including a pledge to “protect judicial independence, the rule of law, minority rights and a free press.” He also advocates for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack and a “universal national service law” that would extend compulsory service to ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens. Eisenkot, who lost his son and two nephews in Gaza, has also been associated with the “Dahiya Doctrine” regarding military responses.