Eisenkot aims to out-hawk Netanyahu ahead of elections — SkimNews
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- Gadi Eisenkot pledged Thursday to "destroy Hamas's military wing" within 18 months of taking office, either through Trump's framework for disarming the group or through military force.
- Likud fired back by claiming Eisenkot would need Arab party leaders Mansour Abbas and Ahmed Tibi to form a coalition, asking how he would destroy Hamas without their permission.
- Both Eisenkot's and Netanyahu's parties are expected to win just over 20 seats each in the 120-seat Knesset, while Arab parties are projected to take 13 seats, leaving coalition math unclear for either side.
- Both candidates are accusing each other of supporting a Palestinian state, with Eisenkot writing "Benjamin is Palestine" and Netanyahu saying Eisenkot would "establish a Palestinian state before GTA 6 comes out."
- Eisenkot declared this week that "Israel must do everything, including attacking Iran, to destroy its nuclear capability," underscoring near-total foreign policy agreement between the two leading candidates.
- Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman described a "new" Israeli national security concept that rejects permanent peace with Arab states and embraces preventive war, citing Israel's post-October 7 actions as evidence.
- The hawkish consensus makes another Arab-inclusive coalition like the 2021 Bennett-Lapid government unlikely, leaving open the possibility that neither candidate can secure a Knesset majority.
Why it matters: Israel's two leading candidates for the October 27 election now share near-identical hawkish platforms on Gaza, Iran, and Palestinian statehood, meaning the winner will face a coalition math problem with 13 Arab seats likely needed but politically toxic to accept — potentially producing a stalemate or a government that doubles down on military solutions rather than diplomacy.
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