Two days before polls open for the 26th Knesset, opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot took to a campaign stage in Tel Aviv on Sunday to deliver a blunt warning about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that the incumbent premier “will stop at nothing to stay in power,” according to The Times of Israel.
Inside the Final Campaign Push and Coalition Math
With voters heading to the ballot boxes on October 27, 2026, political divisions remain deep. Eisenkot, who chairs the centrist Yashar party founded in September 2025, told the gathered crowds that he understands the data and knows his opponent intimately. “He’ll stop at nothing — no lie, no extreme measure — to stay in power,” Eisenkot warned, urging supporters not to take Netanyahu’s potential defeat for granted.
Recent polling across major Israeli television networks indicates that neither the prime minister’s bloc nor his opponents will easily secure the 61 seats required to form a governing majority in the 120-seat parliament. Eisenkot specifically appealed to traditional Likud voters and coalition supporters to abandon the premier, arguing that the ruling party has strayed from its foundational path. “Anyone who thinks our Israel can survive another four years like these is living under a dangerous misconception,” he said, characterizing the current administration as a “government of draft dodgers” amid ongoing disputes over military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
To unseat Netanyahu, Eisenkot argued that Yashar must decisively outperform Likud at the ballot box. Under Israel’s electoral system, the president tasks the lawmaker deemed most likely to form a coalition rather than automatically turning to the leader of the largest faction. A narrow victory, Eisenkot cautioned, would simply allow Netanyahu to claim a tie and cling to office.
Netanyahu Fears Winter May Waste Right-Wing Votes
Meanwhile, the political dynamics on the right face internal friction. Rabbi Eli Sadan, the spiritual mentor of People of Israel party chief Ofer Winter, publicly stood by the right-wing politician on Sunday despite direct pressure from Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to drop out of the race. Netanyahu’s camp has expressed deep concern that Winter’s party might fail to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold, which would result in wasted right-wing votes.
That hardline stance on enlistment continues to divide natural allies. At a massive rally near Bnei Brak on Sunday evening, ultra-Orthodox leaders from United Torah Judaism emphasized the necessity of opposing military drafts for seminary students. Simultaneously, Moshe Maya, a senior member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages, suggested that Haredi factions should unite to form an independent 25-seat bloc following the election rather than committing automatically to either Netanyahu or Eisenkot, positioning themselves as potential kingmakers who will back “whoever will give more.”
Committee Rejects Penalties for Likud and Religious Zionism
Amid the high-stakes campaigning, the Central Elections Committee addressed disputes over electoral oversight. Committee Chairman and Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg ruled on Sunday against penalizing the Likud and Religious Zionism parties, or the Union of Yeshivot Hesder, following a petition filed by Israel Education Watch.
