Party Profile: Yashar (Gadi Eisenkot)

Who they are

Yashar ("Straight" or "Upright") is the new party of Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF chief of staff. It is security-minded and centrist, and it leads or ties for the lead in most polls. Its support is tied closely to Eisenkot himself.

How it formed. Eisenkot left Gantz's National Unity in mid-2025 and founded Yashar on 16 September 2025 with Matan Kahana. He launched his campaign on 30 June 2026. Elazar Stern announced on 14 August that he was leaving Yesh Atid and the Knesset, and joined Yashar on 24 August. Chili Tropper folded his Zionist Home party into Yashar around 7 September, a day before the list deadline. Talks to merge with Bennett and Lapid did not produce a deal.

Trend. The Times of Israel reported on 23 September that Yashar was slipping by two to three seats. Its average sits about two seats below its mid-September level.

The list: who is likely to get in

Yashar filed a 40-name slate on 7 September. At 21 to 23 seats, slots 1 to about 22 are realistic. That includes all of the top 15 below.

Top 20: 1 Eisenkot, 2 Yoram Cohen, 3 Orit Farkash-Hacohen, 4 Adi Altschuler, 5 Matan Kahana, 6 Chili Tropper, 7 Shaul Meridor, 8 Tair Ifergan, 9 Oshrat Gani Gonen, 10 Shira Shapira, 11 Inbar Harush Gity, 12 Elazar Stern, 13 Kamil Abu Rukun, 14 Dvora Sharifian Beker, 15 Alex Rif, 16 Inbar Yehezkeli, 17 Roy Folkman, 18 Israel Zari, 19 Tal Ohana Hachmon, 20 Elyasaf Peretz. Eleven honorary candidates fill the bottom of the 120, including Dan Meridor, Manuel Trajtenberg and Adina Bar-Shalom. They are symbolic.

Gadi Eisenkot (1), 66. Born in Tiberias. IDF 1978 to 2019, mostly in the Golani Brigade, and chief of staff 2015 to 2019. National Unity MK 2022 to 2025 and minister without portfolio in the war cabinet. His son Gal was killed in Gaza in 2023.

Yoram Cohen (2), 65. Shin Bet director 2011 to 2016. Joined in May 2026. No prior Knesset role.

Orit Farkash-Hacohen (3), 55. Lawyer and former Antitrust Authority litigator. MK since 2019 and a former minister of Strategic Affairs, Tourism and Science. Left Blue and White in July 2025.

Adi Altschuler (4), 39. Social entrepreneur. Founded Krembo Wings, Zikaron BaSalon and Inclu. Yashar's education-minister candidate. No prior Knesset role.

Matan Kahana (5), 54. Former F-16 squadron commander. MK 2019 to 2025 and Religious Services Minister 2021 to 2022, where he pushed kashrut and conversion reform. Co-founder of Yashar.

Chili Tropper (6), 48. Social worker and school principal. MK since 2019 and Culture and Sports Minister 2020 to 2022. Left Blue and White in May 2026, briefly ran with Hendel's Reservists, then joined Yashar.

Shaul Meridor (7), 50. Former Treasury Budget Director and son of Dan Meridor. He resigned in 2020 saying Finance Minister Katz bypassed professional staff. Some translated reports misspell him as "Mofaz."

Tair Ifergan (8). Former director-general of the Labor Ministry. Details not confirmed.

Oshrat Gani Gonen (9). Head of the Drom HaSharon Regional Council since 2018. Joined on 29 July 2026.

Shira Shapira (10). Mother of Aner Shapira, who was killed on October 7.

Inbar Harush Gity (11). CEO of the Tikkun, Aharai and Pnima movements. Ran the Defense Ministry's service unit. Was 18th on National Unity's 2022 list. Co-founder of Yashar.

Elazar Stern (12), 70. Retired major general and former IDF Manpower chief. MK for Hatnuah (2013 to 2015), Yesh Atid (2015 to 2019), Blue and White (2019 to 2020) and Yesh Atid again from 2020, and former Intelligence Minister. Announced on 14 August that he was leaving Yesh Atid and the Knesset, and joined Yashar on 24 August. In 2021 he said he had shredded anonymous complaints and apologized.

Kamil Abu Rukun (13). Druze brigadier general (res.) from Isfiya. Former head of COGAT, the Civil Administration's coordinating body.

Dvora Sharifian Beker (14), 44. Born in Tehran. Former Shin Bet field operative and Mossad officer.

Alex Rif (15), about 40. Poet and activist, born in Ukraine. Runs Yashar's immigrant integration program.

Platform and coalition plans

• Haredi draft: Universal service, military or civilian. Sources disagree on how many yeshiva students he would exempt. Wikipedia says up to 3%. Bennett claims Eisenkot's plan allows 30%.
• Judiciary: Opposes the overhaul. Backs a written constitution and term limits for the PM.
• Gaza: Calls the current campaign a "forever war" run for Netanyahu's survival. Wants Hamas destroyed and a state commission of inquiry into October 7. No detailed day-after plan was found.
• Palestinian state: Said on 26 September that he opposes establishing one. Also opposes formal annexation.
• Economy: Pro-market with social investment. More competition in groceries and other sectors, housing and childcare support, and a northern reconstruction plan.
• Religion and state: Civil marriage and divorce, municipal control of Shabbat rules, and a core curriculum in Haredi and Arab schools.
• Iran: No position found.

Coalition plans. He will not serve under Netanyahu. His stated conditions are a Jewish and democratic Israel, the Declaration of Independence, universal service, and treating Hamas as a terrorist group to be destroyed. He aims for 64 to 65 seats for the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc. On 26 September he said Ra'am "in its current form" will not be in his government. The Times of Israel reported that some in his party pressed him to rule Ra'am out more firmly.

Sources

• Times of Israel: Yashar submits slate
• Times of Israel: no last-minute mergers
• JPost: Yashar slate
• JNS: Tropper folds Zionist Home into Yashar
• JC: Yashar explainer
• Times of Israel: Eisenkot on Ra'am
• Times of Israel: Yashar slips, Ra'am pressure
• Wikipedia: Gadi Eisenkot, Yoram Cohen, Farkash-Hacohen, Kahana, Tropper, Meridor, Stern