Israel election results: Eisenkot bloc ‘ahead’ of Netanyahu camp

• There is no outright winner in Israel’s election after record turnout, TV exit polls show, with neither pro-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the main Jewish-led opposition alliance securing a clear majority in parliament.
• First projections show the opposition bloc would win 52-53 seats, while the Netanyahu bloc would have 50 seats. Arab parties are projected to collectively win 17-18 seats.
• Millions of voters have cast ballots to choose 120 members of Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, in the first general election since the start of the genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023.
• Prominent politicians from Arab-led lists have accused Israel’s Netanyahu of inciting hatred against Palestinian citizens in the country, in an attempt to boost his electoral prospects.

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Who is Gadi Eisenkot?

The leader of Yashar is a former general who served as Israeli military chief from 2015 to 2019.

He is credited with publicly outlining the Dahiyeh Doctrine in 2008, involving “disproportionate force” and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure against groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

The 66-year-old entered politics in 2022 with former Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity alliance and later joined the war cabinet assembled by Netanyahu after the October 7 attacks. His son Gal, 25, and a nephew were killed in December 2023, and another nephew in November 2024, while participating in the genocide in Gaza, losses commentators say have helped forge a connection with an electorate that has come to see itself as scarred by war.

In June 2024, he quit the war cabinet alongside Gantz, accusing Netanyahu of lacking a strategy to end the war. A year later, Eisenkot founded Yashar, advocating for professional government, military service for all – including ultra-Orthodox Jews – and a state commission of inquiry into the failings before October 7.

Gadi Eisenkot waves during a Yashar party event in Tel Aviv on October 25, 2026 [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

17m ago

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Forming coalition with Arab parties ‘will end’ political careers, says Likud minister

Likud party’s Miki Zohar, who serves as Netanyahu’s sports and culture minister, says any leader that tries to form a coalition government with the help of Palestinian-Israeli parties will “end their political careers”.

“If Eisenkot, Lieberman, and Bennett try to form a government with the Arab parties, it will be the end of their political careers within a very short period of time,” he wrote in a post on X.

“The public will not forgive and will not forget,” he said.