Eisenkot opens election day in Nir Oz with former hostage, slams government for evading responsibility

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot begins election day campaigning at Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hardest hit by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, alongside former hostage Gadi Mozes, in a symbolic choice of location before casting his own ballot elsewhere later in the day.

“I am proud and moved to begin this day with Gadi Mozes, a symbol of the Israeli spirit and strength, of Israelis’ commitment to one another and their commitment to the state,” Eisenkot says.

“I pledge to do everything I can to ensure that we are worthy of the price you paid, the price the kibbutz paid and the price we all paid, and to bring healing and repair to all citizens of Israel,” he continues.

Mozes, an 81-year-old Nir Oz resident who endured 482 days in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad captivity, has campaigned for Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff who lost his son Gal and two nephews while they were fighting in Gaza during the war.

Noting the absence of any members of the coalition, Eisenkot accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of continuing to evade responsibility for the failures that enabled the attack.

“If anyone in the government had even a shred of responsibility, they would have started their morning here, in the Gaza border communities,” he says. “Three years after the failure, they continue to evade responsibility.”