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Gadi Eisenkot is a former IDF leader who rarely wears a suit, avoids political grandstanding, and says little about himself. And he’s leading in polls against Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, writes Neria Kraus. It was December 7, 2023, the first day of Hanukkah. Israel was in the midst of its war in Gaza, and Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and a minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, was visiting a military base in southern Israel. When Eisenkot entered the command center, he noticed a screen displaying the locations of Israeli troops in Gaza, and recognized the position of the division in which his son, Gal, was serving. Just a few hours later, during that same visit, he would receive an update: A serious incident had occurred, and Israeli forces had suffered casualties. Less than an hour later, a senior commander entered the room and delivered the devastating news: Gal was among them. Gal, 25, was a soldier in Maglan, an elite Israeli commando unit. He had been gravely wounded by a Hamas explosive device near a tunnel in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Hours later, he died in the hospital. For years, Eisenkot had been responsible for visiting the families of soldiers killed in battle. Now, he was on the other side of it. He called one of his other sons to break the news but told him not to share it with the rest of the family. He wanted to be the one to tell Hanna, his wife, what had happened to their fifth and youngest child. Later on in the war, two of his nephews, Yogev Pazy and Maor Cohen Eisenkot, would also be killed on the battlefield. Eisenkot, and those closest to him, point to his son’s death as the moment he decided to run for prime minister. Indeed, nearly three years after that day, Eisenkot is now the most formidable political rival of his former boss, Benjamin Netanyahu—and perhaps the only candidate capable of beating him when Israelis head to the ballot box on Tuesday.

Humanitarian catastrophe largely ignored as rivals Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu vow to end Hamas rule As Israel prepares to go to the polls , Palestinians in Gaza are bracing for an outcome that could shape their future, knowing their fate rests with the country that has reduced much of the territory to rubble and killed nearly 75,000 people. Gaza, where nearly a million displaced Palestinians face dire sanitary conditions, water shortages and the constant threat of Israeli strikes, has been largely absent from the election campaign . Continue reading...

Israel is heading to the polls for the first time since the 7 October attacks and concerns about national security are dominating the campaign. Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a significant challenge from the former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot as voters weigh up who is best placed to protect the country. In Tel Aviv, the Guardian's Will Christou discovers a deepening generational divide, with many younger voters saying that Netanyahu has not gone far enough in Gaza. Continue reading...

Many in Gaza and the West Bank are desperate to avoid more years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, which has made life close to unbearable.