Who they are
Gadi Eisenkot was the 21st chief of staff of the Israeli army and now leads Yashar, the party he founded. He was born in Tiberias in 1960 to Meir and Esther Eisenkot, who had come from Morocco, and the family moved to Eilat before his first birthday. From the age of nine he boarded as an outside child at Kibbutz Tze’elim. He read history at Tel Aviv University, political science at Haifa, and studied at the United States Army War College.
He enlisted into the Golani Brigade in 1978 and was wounded in the head during his officers’ course. In the First Lebanon War he took over a company whose commander had been hit at the Beaufort and led it at Ein a-Tina, Nabatieh and Beirut airport. He rose through Golani as a company, battalion and deputy brigade commander, took the brigade itself in 1997, and then served as military secretary to prime minister Ehud Barak, head of the operations directorate, head of Northern Command and deputy chief of staff.
Eisenkot entered politics with National Unity under Benny Gantz and Gideon Sa’ar, and chaired a Knesset subcommittee on security doctrine. He sat in the war cabinet as an observer and a minister without portfolio from October 2023 and resigned in June 2024. His son and his nephew were both killed fighting in Gaza in December 2023. He left the Knesset in July 2025.
Positions and record
October 7: A state commission of inquiry before anything else.
Service: National service for every community as a coalition condition.
Security: The hostages first; strength with strategic patience.
Equality: Committed at a July 2026 "Sagi's Laws" equality event to placing an LGBTQ+ candidate in a realistic slot on his Knesset list, and said a sitting prime minister once blocked a general's promotion over his sexual orientation.
Where they stand
Holds the party line on every issue.
Judea & Samariaparty lineNo Palestinian state, which Eisenkot has never supported, but a pragmatic approach whose aim is to keep a Jewish majority and stop Israel becoming a binational state.
Two states / withdrawalSovereignty / annexation
Gaza & Securityparty lineA new security doctrine, and an alternative government in Gaza on Israel's terms. Eisenkot pressed for the Rafah operation as leverage for a hostage deal.
Deal & disengagementFull military control
Haredi Enlistmentparty lineEvery citizen is called up, to the army first and to civilian service otherwise, and those who dodge it face prosecution and civil sanctions. Each year no more than 3% of those due to enlist can be exempted, and everyone else serves. The party does not say who would qualify.
Universal draftPreserve exemptions
Judiciaryparty lineA judiciary that is strong, independent and accountable, a Knesset that is sovereign, and a Basic Law: Legislation strengthening the Knesset's own authority.
Court can strike lawsKnesset can override
Economyparty lineWork should pay more than a benefit, with priority always going to those who serve and work. Break up the concentration groups and open the market to parallel imports.
Social spendingFree market
Educationparty lineCore studies are the condition for full public funding, with a national council setting the core, while budget and authority devolve to town halls and to heads.
State runs the schoolsParents and communities
Religion & Stateparty lineCivil union institutionalised in Israel, Shabbat in the public space left to each locality, and women seated on religious councils and on the assemblies that elect rabbis.
Civil / pluralistReligious authority
Nation & Citizenshipparty lineA solid Jewish majority for generations, with equal rights, duties and opportunities for every Israeli and minority rights named explicitly, in a state that stays Jewish and democratic in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
Equal citizenshipJewish national state
