Yashar Party chairman and main rival of Israel's incumbent PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot kicked off election day on Tuesday with a last minute campaign at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hardest hit by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack. Eisenkot walked alongside former hostage Gadi Mozes towards his polling booth before leaving to cast his own vote elsewhere.
“I am proud and moved to begin this day with Gadi Mozes, a symbol of the Israeli spirit and strength, of Israelis’ commitment to one another and their commitment to the state. I pledge to do everything I can to ensure that we are worthy of the price you paid, the price the kibbutz paid and the price we all paid, and to bring healing and repair to all citizens of Israel,” Eisenkot told reporters.
Times of Israel reported that Mozes, had endured 482 days in Hamas captivity and had campaigned for Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff who lost his son Gal and two nephews while they were fighting in Gaza during the war.
During his visit, Eisenkot accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of continuing to evade responsibility for the failures that enabled the October 7 attack, Times of Israel reported.
"If someone in the government had even a shred of responsibility, he would start the morning here, in the Gaza Envelope. Three years after the debacle, they continue to flee from responsibility. I am committed to repairing and rehabilitating the Envelope and leading the State of Israel on a new path of healing and change," he said.
Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu's Avigdor Liberman cast his vote in Nokdim with his wife and posted a message on X, "Good morning to the people of Israel. I voted this morning in Nokdim together with my wife Ella. I call on everyone to go out and vote"
B’Yachad's Naftali Bennett who is a former Prime Minister also cast his vote at the polling station in Ra'anan.
Today's vote, the first since the Hamas-led massacre of October 7, 2023, comes amid profound divisions on issues including accountability for the failures that allowed the attack and independence of Israel’s democratic institutions and judiciary.
Netanyahu who has been at the centre of power for 19 years has managed to keep his coalition in power for a full 4-year term, a rarity in Israel's politics. Now, he faces a formidable challenge in the form of former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and his Yashar party, which lead in the various opinion surveys ahead of the vote.
