Israel Election 2026: What does Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar stand for?

BySHIR PERETSOCTOBER 25, 2026 18:56

Yashar, founded in September 2025, is one of many vying for citizens’ votes in the elections for the 26th Knesset, which will be held on October 27.

Led by Gadi Eisenkot, Yashar occupies the political center and currently leads the polls, making the former IDF chief of staff the top contender to lead the next government and replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Eisenkot entered politics in August 2022 through Benny Gantz’s National Unity alliance, which brought together Gantz’s Blue and White and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope, taking third place on the list.

Although Eisenkot initially ruled out serving under Netanyahu, he and Gantz joined the emergency government after the October 7 massacre. Gantz became a member of the war cabinet, while Eisenkot served as an observer. Both left the government in June 2024, accusing Netanyahu’s leadership of failing to make the strategic decisions needed to achieve the war’s objectives.

In July 2025, Eisenkot left National Unity and resigned from the Knesset, citing the need for a transparent and democratic process for selecting the party's candidates. He said he wanted to build a broader leadership alternative capable of defeating the government, arguing that National Unity had failed to implement the internal reforms he sought. 

Two months later, he founded Yashar alongside former politicians, senior security figures, and other public figures, presenting it as a broad alternative focused on Israel's security, national interests, and democratic character.

Yashar did not exist in the 25th Knesset, but the party has quickly risen through the ranks to become the leading party in the polls, which predict the party to win some 21-23 seats.

Confronting Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah while opposing Palestinian statehood

Yashar places national security at the center of its platform, reflecting Eisenkot’s background as a former IDF chief. The party’s foreign policy focuses on confronting Iran, dismantling Hamas’s rule in Gaza, containing Hezbollah in Lebanon, and determining the future of Palestinian governance and security arrangements.

Yashar presents Iran as a continuing strategic threat. Eisenkot himself has favored a lasting, verifiable resolution of Iran’s nuclear threat.

If diplomacy fails, his proposals include US-enforced restrictions around remaining enriched-uranium sites and wider covert action against Iran’s missile capabilities.

On Gaza, the party’s stated approach combines replacing Hamas with retaining an Israeli security corridor. Eisenkot would also allow reconstruction to advance incrementally alongside partial disarmament. Earlier in October, Eisenkot pledged to destroy Hamas’s military wing and dismantle its leadership within 18 months.

In Lebanon, Eisenkot supports a security zone while seeking stronger American and French involvement in efforts to confront Hezbollah.

Regarding Palestinian statehood, Eisenkot has opposed establishing a Palestinian state, though he told The Jerusalem Post he would consider the Palestinian Authority preferable to continued Hamas rule if those are the alternatives.

On settlements, he told the Post he would return Civil Administration responsibilities to military coordination and restore military coordination of policing in the West Bank.

Eisenkot's goals: Ease cost of living, draft haredim, and reform Israel's economy

Yashar’s domestic platform focuses on reforming military-service obligations, easing the cost of living, and directing economic support toward working Israelis, young people, and those who serve the country.

Yashar’s clearest established position is its opposition to blanket haredi (ultra-Orthodox) exemptions from military service. 

Eisenkot has proposed sanctions for evasion and benefits for those who serve, while allowing a limited Torah-study exemption for 3% of each annual haredi cohort. That allowance qualifies his universal-service message and has drawn criticism from opposition rivals demanding no exemptions.

Yashar also proposes expanding service obligations and giving servicemen greater priority in civilian benefits. Its September youth plan proposed raising compulsory-service soldiers’ pay by 15%, with a 50% increase for combat soldiers in their third year.

The party’s proposals place particular emphasis on those who contribute through military service and work.

Economist and Yashar candidate Shaul Meridor placed the “working middle class, young people, and service people” at the center of its economic policy.

Meridor outlined tax changes to reward those bearing the economic and security burden, together with priority in housing assistance and daycare subsidies. The reporting does not specify a full schedule of tax rates.

On living costs and competition, the party has advocated challenging exclusive import arrangements and reducing barriers in concentrated markets such as groceries and cosmetics.

The party’s September youth plan also outlined renter protections, paid internships, and practical financial guidance.

What a vote for this party is likely to produce

A vote for Yashar is most likely a vote to strengthen Eisenkot’s claim to the premiership and help build a coalition with former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu, and Yair Golan’s Democrats.

The four parties have agreed to coordinate campaigning and prepare principles for a future government, but have not settled how the bloc’s candidate for prime minister would be selected.

Eisenkot favors the leader of the largest party becoming the candidate for prime minister and has rejected a rotation arrangement. While that position still requires agreement from prospective partners, all four opposition leaders stressed in separate interviews during the election campaign that they would coalesce around an agreed-upon candidate following the election.

In a September interview with the Post, Eisenkot laid out his conditions for coalition eligibility, including accepting Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity, service obligations, and supporting the dismantling of Hamas.

His parameters exclude Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List, and likely the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties Shas and United Torah Judaism as viable partners.

If the bloc falls short of 61 seats, it would need additional partners or support. Haredi parties accepting service reform represent a conditional opening in Eisenkot’s position, although his allies’ red lines could complicate it.

For voters, Yashar offers a path toward replacing Netanyahu, but the election result will determine how far that path goes.

Eisenkot must turn support for his leadership into a majority whose members agree on who should govern and what they are prepared to concede. The decisive test will be whether he can assemble those 61 seats while preserving the promises that brought voters to him.

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