Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, inaugurated his campaign for prime minister on Tuesday at an event in the South Sharon Regional Council, directly challenging Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of elections expected in late October. Eisenkot declared that “for the future of Israel, we must ensure that next October, the ‘October 7’ government ends its role in history,” a reference to the Hamas attack that occurred under Netanyahu’s watch. He pledged to govern “for all Israelis” and to replace a leadership he described as devoid of vision and strategy. The launch event showcased a party apparatus that, according to Israeli political observers, aims to project readiness to govern across security, economic, and social portfolios, with former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen outlining a proactive internal security doctrine and ex-minister Matan Kahana detailing education reforms.

Netanyahu’s Likud party, projected in a recent Channel 12 poll to win 24 seats against Yashar’s 22, faces mounting pressure from its ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. United Torah Judaism announced a boycott of Knesset votes to protest delays in advancing legislation that would freeze arrests of yeshiva students who evade military service. The prime minister, in a press conference, adopted the haredi parties’ framing, claiming that police operations in yeshivas were counterproductive, though Israeli media reported no such arrest campaigns. Defence Minister Israel Katz separately moved to advance a temporary freeze on enforcement against draft evaders, a step that military officials warn will exacerbate a severe manpower shortage. Analysts in Israel note that Netanyahu’s dependence on the haredi factions for a future coalition leaves him little room to resist their demands, even as the IDF signals an urgent need for recruits.

The electoral contest unfolds against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and deepening settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Galei Israel radio that military control of Gaza had expanded to nearly 70 percent and would reach 100 percent, while Innovation Minister Gila Gamliel confirmed she had presented a cabinet proposal for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, with Mossad involvement. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned reported plans by settler groups to seize 100 strategic locations in Area A of the West Bank, calling them a “systematic war crime” and a violation of the Oslo Accords. Viewed from Ramallah, these moves are seen as an acceleration of de facto annexation under the current right-wing government, a policy that international actors, including the US administration, have opposed in official statements.

Eisenkot, who served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet from October 2023 until his resignation in June 2024, has gained public prominence partly through personal loss: his son and two nephews were killed in combat in Gaza. His party’s platform includes a “National Service Law” to integrate ultra-Orthodox men into the military, a proposal that directly counters the haredi parties’ legislative push. While Eisenkot has not detailed his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his campaign rhetoric focuses on national unity and a break from the current leadership. With the Knesset dissolved and the election date still to be formally set, the campaign period is expected to intensify as parties position themselves on the intertwined questions of military service, the Gaza war, and settlement policy.