Elections committee chair says Shin Bet has no intel on efforts to harm Eisenkot

Central Elections Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg said on Sunday that Shin Bet director David Zini had informed him that there is no intelligence suggesting any plot to harm Gadi Eisenkot, the former minister and ex-IDF chief whose Yashar party is leading in most opinion polls ahead of the October 27 election.

The statement by the deputy president of the Supreme Court came after multiple outlets reported on Saturday that Zini had denied Yashar’s request to provide an armed security detail for Eisenkot. Zini confirmed on Sunday that he made the decision.

“The Shin Bet director says there is no intelligence on [efforts to] harm Eisenkot — and he is the professional authority on this issue,” Sohlberg said.

“If there are alerts on any kind of intention to harm the head of the Yashar party, the Shin Bet head will inform me,” he added.

Sohlberg also noted that he has no authority on the matter of armed security for election candidates, and that the law states that the Shin Bet provides guards for individuals designated by the government.

Zini confirmed on Sunday that he had made the call.

“The decision on not attaching a security detail to Mr. Eisenkot was made by the Shin Bet head, and he is solely responsible for this issue,” a statement from the Shin Bet said, adding that before making the decision, Zini consulted with professionals, including Sohlberg.

“The decision on not attaching a security detail to Mr. Eisenkot was made by the Shin Bet head, and he is solely responsible for this issue,” Zini’s statement said, adding that before making the decision, Zini consulted with professionals, including Sohlberg.

Eisenkot’s party had asked for guards to be provided, citing increased threats against him since he became the leading candidate to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His team reportedly had to hire private bodyguards, as he is not entitled to a state-issued armed security detail.

The campaign said the privately hired guards were not armed and warned that Eisenkot would become increasingly exposed as the election approached, with the former IDF chief regularly attending conferences, touring the country and appearing at events whose locations and schedules were publicized in advance.

The concerns came amid repeated warnings from Israeli security officials about potential Iranian efforts to interfere in the election and target political figures.

In July, Zini reportedly warned senior Israeli officials that Iran and other foreign actors were seeking to meddle in the October vote and undermine the election process. According to Channel 13, the Shin Bet chief said he viewed foreign interference as the agency’s second-most concerning election-related threat, behind the possibility of major terror attacks.

The dispute over Eisenkot’s protection comes as he has emerged as Netanyahu’s strongest electoral challenger. A Zman Yisrael poll projected Yashar winning 25 Knesset seats, compared with 21 for Likud. Yashar has led most polls in recent weeks, though Likud frequently trails by only a small margin.

Eisenkot, who served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, entered politics in 2022, joining Benny Gantz’s National Unity party. After the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, he joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet, but then quit in 2024. He formally launched Yashar’s election campaign on June 30 and declared that he was running for prime minister, pledging to be a “prime minister for all Israeli citizens.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.