Two very different personalities, two contrasting political careers, but not necessarily two fundamentally different approaches to Israel’s security.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot are competing for the premiership in today’s election, with the outcome depending not only on how many seats each one of them wins, but also on the alliances they can forge.
Benjamin Netanyahu: The art of political survival
At 77, Benjamin Netanyahu has governed Israel longer than any of his predecessors. First elected prime minister in 1996, he returned to power in 2009, lost office in 2021 and reclaimed it the following year.
Today, Likud has become almost inseparable from his personality and leadership.
The son of distinguished historian Benzion Netanyahu, he grew up between Israel and the United States. He served in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, studied at MIT and represented Israel at the United Nations. His familiarity with American politics and the international media gave him a significant advantage throughout his political career.
His political legacy includes the economic reforms of the early 2000s, the Abraham Accords and his success in placing Iran at the centre of Israel’s foreign policy agenda. His close relationship with Donald Trump remains one of his strongest electoral assets.
October 7, 2023, however, dramatically changed his standing. The deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history occurred on his watch, raising persistent questions about the political leadership’s responsibility for the security failures. Netanyahu, for his part, points to the subsequent military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as evidence of his effectiveness.
He also remains on trial on corruption charges, which he denies, and faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, whose allegations he likewise rejects.
His greatest political difficulty now lies in coalition-building. His dependence on ultra-Orthodox parties and the far right has fuelled widespread opposition, particularly over exemptions from compulsory military service.
Gadi Eisenkot: From military command to the race for power
At 66, Gadi Eisenkot’s political style is sharply different from Netanyahu’s. He lacks the prime minister’s rhetorical flair and polished presence on television.
Instead, his appeal rests largely on his military credentials and his reputation as a measured, understated figure, largely free of political theatrics.
Born in Tiberias to Jewish immigrants from Morocco, Eisenkot grew up in Eilat. If he becomes prime minister, he would be the first of Mizrahi Jewish descent — a community whose roots lie in the Middle East and North Africa, representing Jews who were displaced from those regions. Such a development would carry considerable symbolic significance in Israeli society.
His military career began in the Golani Brigade and culminated in his appointment as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces in 2015. During his four-year tenure, his name became associated with operations against Hezbollah and a doctrine advocating overwhelming military force against enemy infrastructure. The doctrine, however, drew criticism over civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure as well.
In December 2023, Eisenkot lost his 25-year-old son, Gal, during a military operation in Gaza. At the time, he was serving in Israel’s emergency wartime government, which he left in June 2024, accusing Netanyahu of failing to formulate a coherent strategic plan.
Eisenkot entered politics only in 2022. In 2025, he founded the centrist Yashar party, making an investigation into the October 7 failures, military service without religious or other exceptions, and the restoration of public confidence in state institutions central to his political platform.
Despite their differences, the two rivals are not particularly far apart on fundamental security issues. Both oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state under present circumstances and consider the disarmament of Hamas essential.
Eisenkot’s positions differ more substantially when it comes to settlement policy in the West Bank and the influence of the religious far right.
Today’s vote will show which of the two has greater electoral support. But who ultimately governs will be decided in the Knesset, where winning the crucial 61 seats remains the central challenge.
