Eisenkot receives warm reception at Hostages Square as thousands rally for state inquiry into Oct. 7

By Noam Lehmann Today, 8:07 pm

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A protester wearing a closed zipper on her mouth and a costume while draped in the Israeli flag poses during an anti-government demonstration at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on October 24, 2026, several days before general elections. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot, the frontrunner to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tuesday’s election, arrives at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square as thousands of people gather there to demand a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Eisenkot is greeted with enthusiastic applause and chants of “Who’s coming? The next prime minister.”

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot arrives at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, to support a demonstration calling for a State Commission of Inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre, October 24, 2026, three days before Israeli elections. (ELAN / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

The packed crowd is dotted with Israeli flags, many emblazoned with the words “Hofshi Beartzenu” (Free in our Land), the name of an anti-government protest group.

The rally is organized by the October Council of families that lost loved in the Hamas attack and demand a statutory state commission of inquiry, which Netanyahu rejects.

Supporters of the opposition Democrats are also set to march over from Rabin Square, led by party head Yair Golan.