From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Eisenkot labels Likud slate ‘the October 7 list,’ says it’s ‘not worthy’ of leadership
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot slams the Likud party following its primary election yesterday, declaring in a post on X that “no festive message or ‘victory’ parties will hide the fact that the Likud list for the 26th Knesset is, in practice, the October 7 list.”
“These are exactly the same people who shamelessly divided Israeli society, who blindly led Israel to the worst disaster since the founding of the state” and who, “instead of taking responsibility, clung to their seats at all costs and added insult to injury by enabling mass draft evasion during wartime,” he posts, arguing that the current Likud slate’s members “don’t know how to lead Israel to victory,” cannot unite the country and “are not worthy” of leadership.
“To the Likudniks who are fed up with leadership of lies and corruption, I want to say: you have a home. You can rely on us,” Eisenkot states.
Eisenkot’s Yashar, a new party unveiled in September, is not holding a primary. Eisenkot is selecting its Knesset slate.
The Yashar chairman’s comments come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement declaring himself “very satisfied” with the results, which he said would enable Likud to achieve a “big victory” in the October 27 election.
“This is the only way to prevent a leftist government of Eisenkot, [Democrats party leader] Yair Golan, [Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor] Liberman, and the Arab parties,” Netanyahu’s statement asserted.
The Times of Israel Community.