Shin Bet to provide security for three opposition party leaders amid rising threats

The Shin Bet domestic intelligence service will begin to provide protection for three opposition party leaders — Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, the Democrats’ Yair Golan, and People of Israel leader Ofer Winter.

Yashar announced Saturday that it had been told by the Shin Bet that the agency will oversee security for Eisenkot.

Eisenkot will be protected by a private company directly operated by the Shin Bet’s Unit 730, which provides security details to top Israeli officials.

Yashar said the Shin Bet gave notice that bodyguards would begin their work on Sunday.

Likewise, the Shin Bet told Golan and Winter that they will start receiving close protection.

The move marked a reversal in the Shin Bet’s position last month, when it declined to provide Eisenkot with security. His staff has repeatedly urged the agency to provide protection, citing what it said were growing threats against him both online and in public as the October 27 election approaches.

The Shin Bet did not respond to a request for comment.

Eisenkot, who served as IDF chief of staff from 2015 to 2019 and later entered politics, formally launched Yashar’s election campaign in June. His Yashar party has led most recent opinion polls ahead of the vote.

Last month, the left-wing Democrats party petitioned the High Court of Justice, asking for an interim order requiring the Shin Bet and the government to provide state security for Golan, citing what it described as dozens of threats against him.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, security officials presented a framework for protecting Golan while noting that it would be updated depending on the situation. As a result, he will now have bodyguards.

Winter, who at the start of his campaign said he would only sit in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has since appeared to walk back that stance. He has faced pressure from coalition parties to drop out of the race as his People of Israel has been hovering around the threshold for entry into the Knesset. Failure to cross that hurdle is seen as a waste of votes that might otherwise have gone to coalition parties.

The move to beef up security for the three party leaders came as a man was arrested after allegedly attacking the entourage of opposition B’Yachad party chief Naftali Bennett, who was campaigning at the Mesila Park in south Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Police said in a statement that they arrested a man on suspicion of attacking the security detail of a “public figure.”

The suspect is a 23-year-old resident of the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim, police said.

Hebrew media reported that the man approached Bennett in a menacing manner, declaring “Only Bibi,” referring to Netanyahu. When security guards pushed him back, he attacked them and was arrested.

The man was taken in for questioning.

ובינתיים בפארק המסילה בת"א: המשטרה עוצרת בכח צעיר שלפי אחת העדויות התקרב באגרסיביות לעבר בנט, שנמצא שם בסבב פאבים pic.twitter.com/lEBbwagctM

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) October 24, 2026

Last week, Bennett’s party confirmed reports that security around him has recently been doubled following threats and attempted attacks against him, bringing his protection to a level equivalent to that of a defense minister. As a former prime minister, Bennett already enjoys Shin Bet protection, as does his No. 2, ex-premier Yair Lapid.

The decision to ramp up Bennett’s security came as he has been touring Likud strongholds across the country in a bid to persuade Netanyahu supporters to change their allegiance ahead of this week’s election.

Last month, two glass salt shakers were hurled at Bennett during a campaign stop in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, striking two members of his staff, one of whom required medical attention.

Police have since filed an indictment against 26-year-old Bnei Brak resident Eliya Azard, charging him with simple assault and conduct that could disrupt public order.

Another opposition party, Yisrael Beytenu, said last week that its chairman, Avigdor Liberman, had received a series of death threats, prompting it to submit another complaint to the Knesset sergeant-at-arms, who is responsible for lawmakers’ security. There have been no reports of additional state-provided security for Liberman.

The heated rhetoric from politicians and members of the public ahead of the October 27 election has led to fears of political violence, prompting President Isaac Herzog to warn that “elections are not a civil war.”

In a statement last month, the Shin Bet said it had approved a series of measures applying to party leaders, including providing their teams with relevant intelligence and allowing privately hired security guards to carry weapons if requested.

The agency said at the time security arrangements would be reassessed periodically and adjusted according to the threat level facing each political leader.

Eisenkot vows to prevent political stalemate

Despite the security concerns, opposition leaders kept up their campaigning Saturday, with Eisenkot vowing to prevent Netanyahu from engineering a political stalemate after Tuesday’s election.

Meanwhile, Golan warned against defections from the opposition bloc and rejected the possibility of joining a government with Likud, during a series of interviews with party leaders on Channel 12 three days before the national election.

“I promise that we’ll prevent Netanyahu from achieving his goal of securing a tie, winning by not losing, and dragging us into another election with an extremist minority government,” Eisenkot told the network.

He also backed legislation barring indicted politicians from serving as prime minister, but said it cannot apply retroactively to Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, “because that would be unconstitutional.”

Golan, asked whether he fears defections from either Yashar or B’Yachad to Netanyahu’s camp, said the concern was justified.

“All the rumors in recent days about ‘We’ll sit with Likud’ or ‘We’ll sit with Netanyahu’ — those things are inconceivable. Our role isn’t to sit with Netanyahu or Likud. It’s to replace them,” he said.

Bennett, meanwhile, clashed with United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher, who has conditioned joining a government on the passage of a law enshrining military exemptions for yeshiva students.

Asked whether he would join a government that includes Bennett, who has vowed to draft the Haredi community as well as cut all state funding that ultra-Orthodox draft evaders currently receive, Asher responded: “Not someone who lashes out at an entire community just to win a few more votes.”

“He’s wrong. I’m not attacking the ultra-Orthodox. I’m looking out for the soldiers,” Bennett responded.

Billboards banned

Meanwhile, Central Elections Committee chair Noam Sohlberg on Saturday ordered local municipalities to take down Likud campaign billboards attacking opposition parties, after Likud ignored an earlier order to remove them itself.

The billboards, which were displayed in Jewish-majority areas, feature a fake picture of the opposition party leaders along with the two leaders of Arab parties in the race, MK Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas. The billboard has only Arabic writing on it, including a notification that it is a Likud poster.

Yashar last week petitioned that committee that because the notification was only in Arabic and not Hebrew, the billboards were misleading.

Sohlberg agreed on Friday, ordering Likud to remove the billboards. After the party did not comply, Sohlberg told local authorities to remove them while instructing Likud to inform him, by Sunday, what measures it was also taking.

ספוילר: זו אינה כרזה של ישר!

בדרך בגין בירושלים מופיע השלט הזה בערבית בצבעי הקמפיין של ישר! בו נראים איזנקוט, גולן, ליברמן, בנט, טיבי ומנסור עבאס.

לנוסע במהירות בבגין זה נראה כמו כרזה של איזנקוט בערבית המתארת לכאורה את ממשלתו העתידית, המסר פשוט וברור ואמור לייצר הטעייה אצל… pic.twitter.com/Ne7UX3ellS

— Yanir Cozin – יניר קוזין (@yanircozin) October 22, 2026

The Yashar party responded in a statement saying that “Likud and Netanyahu think that they are above the law, flout judicial decisions, and continue with their campaign of lies.”

Likud said that it will act in accordance to the ruling, but claimed that the petition was “an invalid attempt by the petitioners to hide that fact that Eisenkot intends to set up a left-wing government” with Arab parties.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.