Eisenkot Challenges Netanyahu: Israeli Voters Weigh Term Limits in Tight Race

Benjamin Netanyahu faces his toughest electoral challenge in a decade as Israelis cast ballots on Tuesday in a contest that has evolved into a direct referendum on his leadership. The former prime minister has held the top job for 19 of the last 30 years, a tenure that has polarized the political field into two distinct camps rather than traditional left and right divisions.

Gadi Eisenkot, the leading opposition candidate, is positioning his Yashar party as the alternative to the incumbent. A former IDF chief of staff and recent entrant to politics, Eisenkot advocates for US-style term limits for the prime minister, arguing that concentrated power leads to corruption. His campaign emphasizes directness and action, a message that resonated with attendees at a rally in Modi'in this week who expressed fatigue with political rhetoric.

The opposition coalition is a heterogeneous group that includes former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman. Both men are figures from the nationalist right who previously collaborated with Netanyahu before parting ways. On the far right, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party is campaigning on the premise that Netanyahu has drifted too far left, proposing more settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, a ministry to facilitate voluntary Palestinian departure, and stricter penalties for Jewish civilians.

Netanyahu’s campaign has framed the election as a binary choice between Yamin, the right, and Falastin, Palestine. His posters visually link opposition leaders with parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, a demographic that constitutes about one-fifth of the population. This strategy aims to exploit concerns among Jewish voters regarding reliance on Arab parties to form a government.

Polls indicate a tight race, with the anti-Netanyahu bloc projected to outpoll his supporters but potentially fall short of the 61 seats needed for a majority. This dynamic has kept the opposition on the defensive in the final weeks. Pro-Netanyahu media, including Channel 14, have aggressively targeted opponents, with host Yinon Magal recently calling Eisenkot a Moroccan monkey, a slur that Eisenkot chose not to echo during his campaign stops.

The incumbent’s position is complicated by several factors. The deadliest attack in Israel’s history occurred on October 7, 2023, while he was in power. His subsequent war in Gaza has resulted in more than 70,000 Palestinian deaths, a toll Israel says includes a third who were Hamas combatants. Despite these efforts, Hamas has not been eradicated, and Iran’s nuclear threat remains unresolved.

Netanyahu also contends with the political fallout from his attempts to curb the supreme court, the Qatargate affair involving his aides, and an ongoing corruption trial. His loyal base, however, remains stable. Allies maintain that senior military and intelligence officials kept him uninformed of the threat before the 2023 attacks, a claim that lacks foundational evidence but sustains his support among long-time voters.

The election outcome may hinge on the 120 seats in the Knesset and the ability of the opposition to secure a stable majority. Liberal, secular expatriate Israelis are traveling home to vote, a segment that pollsters often underestimate. On Thursday, a state ceremony marked the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, an event Netanyahu skipped in favor of sending a low-ranking minister. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, expressed optimism that opposition leaders can agree on a regional strategic process for long-term security.

The word peace has lost some of its political currency, yet it persists in public sentiment. A widely shared video from a Negev music festival showed young Israelis singing Shir LaShalom, a song associated with Rabin. For many voters, this cultural signal and the surge of returning expatriates suggest that the era of Netanyahu’s dominant rule is facing its most serious test in years.