BySUSAN HATTIS ROLEF

JULY 28, 2026 15:00

As the race for the 26th Knesset opens, observers note that the contest looks set to be intricate and possibly harsh.

Beyond the main clash between the current coalition and opposition blocs, internal rivalries are likely inside several groups, including the national religious sector, Arab parties, ultra-Orthodox communities (where a fresh modern haredi list seems to be forming), the liberal Right Center Left alliance, the Likud itself, and former Likud supporters who now oppose Netanyahu.

Lists may still register with the Central Elections Committee until September 7, adding another layer of uncertainty.

Several new groups are weighing a run and will decide based on momentum closer to the deadline and their chances of clearing the 3.25 percent threshold.

Established parties must also choose by that date whether to compete alone or merge with others.

At present the leading contenders for prime minister are former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot of Yashar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud.

Recent surveys show Eisenkot ahead as the preferred choice for the top job, while Yashar and the Likud sit roughly even in projected seats (21-23). This has pushed the Likud to focus its early efforts on tarnishing Eisenkot.

Yashar on a Direct Collision Path with Likud

Eisenkot projects a markedly different image from Netanyahu: modest, straightforward, without flashy charisma, generally truthful, unmoved by wealthy donors, and uninterested in luxury. These traits appear to appeal to voters weary of Netanyahu style.

Unable to dent that appeal, the Likud has shifted to other lines of attack. After an initial attempt to mock Eisenkot poor English failed, the party began labeling him a left winger.

Many Israelis today seem unaware that left wing groups, mainly social democratic and labor factions, laid the groundwork for the state with backing from liberal and national religious parties and limited haredi support.

It is unfortunate that left has become a slur in right wing circles, just as right once served as shorthand for fascist in labor circles during the early state years.

Personally Eisenkot holds moderate liberal views, yet it remains unclear whether he would back the Democrats, Israel sole Jewish left wing party, over Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid Together if he lacked his own list.

He entered politics through Benny Gantz Blue and White, a centrist movement from the outset.

While most Likud figures do not dismiss Eisenkot military record or his tenure as chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, at least one Channel 14 commentator called him a jobnik, a dismissive term for non combat soldiers.

The lowest point came last week with an AI generated clip showing Eisenkot sprinting past a young man in an Ahdut Yisrael shirt and into the embrace of Ra am leader Mansour Abbas.

Some viewers thought the young man stood for Eisenkot son Gal, killed in Jabalya in December 2023, though that does not appear to have been the intent, despite Netanyahu strained ties with many bereaved families from the past 33 months.

The clip instead implied Eisenkot would rather partner with Arab parties than pursue Israeli unity.

In reality Eisenkot favors a government anchored in a Zionist Jewish majority, while remaining open to Arab parties that accept core principles also demanded of Jewish partners.

Those principles include Israel status as a Jewish and democratic state, commitment to military or civilian national service, and adherence to the Declaration of Independence, including equality.

Netanyahu Once Considered an Alliance with Ra am Leader Mansour Abbas

Netanyahu own earlier talks with Abbas before forming his right religious government in late 2022 highlight the Likud double standard.

Agreement failed only because of Bezalel Smotrich firm opposition. How Yashar and other opposition parties will respond to the current Likud barrage remains unclear. Ideally they will stick to verifiable facts and avoid descending into AI driven mudslinging.

They have ample material: Netanyahu loose relationship with facts, his refusal as prime minister to accept responsibility for October 7, the government failure to achieve core war aims since October 8 such as dismantling Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Republic threat, its refusal to launch a national inquiry into the October 7 catastrophe, and Netanyahu dissatisfaction with the current Likud parliamentary roster.

That dissatisfaction has prompted Netanyahu to consider limiting or scrapping Likud primaries for the coming elections.

His frustration could spark not only the end of primaries but also a smear campaign against the Democrats, who recently conducted open and well received primaries.

The vote for the 26th Knesset might ultimately shift the balance between the two parties. The Likud may reject the Democrats ideological stance, yet it must concede that the Democrats list, balanced by gender and featuring at least one Arab woman in a realistic slot, looks stronger than the Likud roster chosen in its August 2022 primaries.

Primaries were adopted by Labor before the 1992 elections and by the Likud before the 1996 vote. Both parties were far larger then than either the Likud or the Democrats, an offshoot of Labor, are today.

Food for thought.

The writer has produced journalistic and academic pieces as well as several books on international relations, Zionism, Israeli politics, and parliamentarism. Between 1994 and 2010 she served at the Knesset Library and the Knesset Research and Information Center.