Eisenkot accuses Netanyahu of making senior appointments as ‘reward for loyalty’

Former military chief of staff and “Yashar! With Eisenkot” party chairman Gadi Eisenkot said Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “fear” of losing power endangers the state, and accused the premier of making senior appointments on the basis of loyalty rather than competence.

In a lengthy X post, the ex-general wrote: “One man’s fear for his seat should not lead an entire country to ruin. The State of Israel is too important and dear to all of us.”

In the post, Eisenkot recounted “some events” from the past week:

• “Netanyahu announced that he is advancing a draft-dodging law (called by some, without shame, the ‘draft law’).”
• “Netanyahu filed a request to annul his trial (called by some, without shame, a ‘pardon request’).”
• “Netanyahu wants to chair a meeting of the ministers-of-failure to set the mandate, themes, and scope of the investigation of the failure of October 7 (called by some, without shame, ‘a commission of inquiry’).”
• “Netanyahu passed a state budget that will deepen the deficit and in which there are no incentives for growth (called by some ‘an excellent budget’).”

“And if all this is not enough — senior officials are appointed by the ‘commander in chief’ in what appears to be a reward for loyalty and siding with his path, at the expense of experience, professionalism and national considerations,” Eisenkot wrote.

The comment appeared to refer to Netanyahu’s decision to tap his military secretary, Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, as the next Mossad director, reportedly passing over two candidates recommended by the spy agency’s outgoing chief.

“The message being sent to senior officeholders is ‘loyalty above all,’” Eisenkot said, accusing the “clique of cowards in the government” of complacency.

“I don’t know what ‘spins’ Netanyahu will throw at the citizens of Israel in the week to come, but it’s clear he’s afraid,” the Yashar! leader continued.

“He is afraid of a state commission of inquiry that will investigate his responsibility for October 7. He is afraid of an equal draft law that will benefit those in Israel who serve. He is afraid of his legal proceedings, despite always claiming otherwise, and ultimately he is afraid of elections, in which the nation will judge his actions, which led to October 7 and to the way the war was conducted,” he wrote.

“It’s time to move forward, it’s time for elections – now!” Eisenkot added.

Eisenkot, a general-turned-lawmaker, initially sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. He resigned in June 2024, saying “politics infiltrated into the discussions.”

Since resigning from the Knesset altogether in July, Eisenkot has become an outspoken critic of the government’s approach to the war.

The former general’s son Gal was killed while serving in the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza in December 2023. The next day, Eisenkot’s nephew Maor was also killed serving in the Strip.

Since resigning from the Knesset, Eisenkot has said that Netanyahu’s government “is not worthy” of his son or other soldiers and hostages who lost their lives in the war, citing what he has termed the coalition’s “cowardice,” political indecision, “and the political and ideological considerations of people who want to resettle the Gaza Strip.”