Former Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot has officially launched his campaign for prime minister, vowing to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu and open a better chapter in the country’s history.
Eisenkot, who is also the leader of the Yashar Party and served as Israel’s military chief from 2015 to 2019, made the announcement during a speech on Tuesday evening.
“In October, the term of the disastrous October government will come to an end,” Eisenkot said.
He pledged that a government under his leadership would make “courageous decisions” on national security, mandatory service, and public education, while establishing a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 intelligence failures.
Coalition paralysis
Compounding the pressure on the premier, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also targeted Netanyahu on Tuesday, declaring him “incapable of governing his own government.”
In an interview, Bennett claimed that far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, along with ultra-Orthodox groups, have taken total control of the prime minister.
“I would not have allowed Ben-Gvir into my government to begin with,” Bennett remarked, noting that Netanyahu is no longer able to call his ministers to order because he entirely depends upon them.
