Netanyahu Faces Eisenkot as Israeli Vote Turns on 19 Years in Office

Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister for 19 of the past 30 years, faces voters Tuesday in a 120-seat Knesset race that polls show splitting evenly between his bloc and an opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot. Netanyahu first took the office three decades ago; his rival entered politics four years ago after serving as Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.

The campaign has narrowed to two camps labeled pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu. Eisenkot, whose party is named Yashar, has proposed US-style term limits for prime ministers, saying "because power corrupts." At a rally this week in Modi'in, attendees credited his direct manner. "I am tired of people who know how to talk," said Noa Sadeh, 56, who wants a leader "who will do the doing part."

The opposition bloc includes former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, both nationalists who once worked with Netanyahu. On the right, Yishai Fleisher of Otzma Yehudit told voters in Bet Shemesh that Netanyahu "tends to drift left" and needs pulling back toward the right, arguing for more West Bank and Gaza settlements, a ministry for the "voluntary" departure of Palestinians, the death penalty, and more weapons for Jewish civilians.

Netanyahu's campaign posters set a choice between Yamin, the right, and Falastin, placing opposition leaders beside parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up about a fifth of the population. The closing weeks focused on whether anti-Netanyahu Jewish parties, forecast to outpoll his bloc without reaching a Knesset majority, would rely mainly on Arab parties. Channel 14's Yinon Magal called Eisenkot a Moroccan "monkey" this week; Eisenkot did not respond at the rally.

Polls remain close despite the 7 October 2023 massacres at the Nova festival and southern kibbutzim occurring under Netanyahu's watch. His Gaza war killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, a third of whom Israel says were Hamas combatants, without eradicating Hamas. He also faces fallout from his bid to curb the supreme court, the Qatargate affair involving aides, and an ongoing corruption trial.

Oded Levi, who voted for Netanyahu in 2022 but attended the Eisenkot rally, said whoever was prime minister then "is responsible." Netanyahu's allies promote an account in which army and intelligence chiefs kept him uninformed, a claim the source describes as unfounded. Many expect him to prevail in coalition talks after the vote.

Liberal, secular expatriate Israelis are flying home to vote, a group pollsters do not capture that could matter if the result turns on one of the 120 seats. Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats and a former general, said he is optimistic and hopes opposition leaders can agree on a regional strategic process for long-term security.