Far-right provocateur confronts Eisenkot, who tells him to serve in IDF, ‘then get back to me’

By Ariela Karmel

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7 August 2026, 7:58 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Far-right provocateur Mordechai David (left) confronts politician Gadi Eisenkot on August 7, 2026. (Screenshot/Social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Far-right provocateur Mordechai David confronts opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot on a beach, accusing him of advocating surrender following the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, prompting the former IDF chief to rebuff him over his lack of military service.

“A few weeks after the massacre that Hamas committed, you wanted to surrender. You said a deal at any price. And now you’re coming at Bibi,” a shirtless David says, using Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

Eisenkot, who served as an observer in the war cabinet following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, advocated for a ceasefire deal to secure the return of the hostages held in Gaza. He criticized the government while still a member and quit in June 2024, slamming Netanyahu’s handling of the war and accusing him of failing to make the necessary strategic decisions to achieve its goals.

Eisenkot also lost a son and two nephews in the war that began with the October 7 attack.

“I only engage with those who served in the army,” Eisenkot responds to David. “You didn’t serve in the army. Go serve, then get back to me.”

איזנקוט למרדכי דוד הדביל: ״לך תשרת בצבא ותחזור אליי״ pic.twitter.com/i1qq06Px6A

— Yosef Yisrael (@yosefyisrael25) August 7, 2026

David, a convicted felon who did not serve in the IDF, has claimed that he sought to enlist but that the military would not accept him, apparently due to his criminal record.

David then asks Eisenkot, “So that’s why you’re going with the Zionists Mansour Abbas and Sami Abu Shehadeh?” referring to the leaders of the Arab parties Ra’am and Balad, who likewise did not serve in the military.

Eisenkot, who did not respond to that remark, leads the centrist Yashar party and has emerged as Netanyahu’s main rival ahead of the October 27 election.

Balad is currently not represented in the Knesset and is expected to run on a joint list with the Arab-majority Hadash and Ta’al parties in the upcoming October 27 election. It is not expected to join a governing coalition with Eisenkot. There is ongoing discussion over whether Ra’am, which joined an anti-Netanyahu coalition in 2021, could do so again this year.

David, an activist and convicted felon with ties to Likud, is known for serially harassing left-wing and liberal journalists and public figures.

In June, he was detained after harassing Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish and her husband, actor Tsahi Halevi, and he has previously been questioned by police over incidents in which he blocked the vehicles of former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak and former soccer star and news presenter Eyal Berkovic.