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Natan Eshel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chief Benny Gantz greet each other at a special plenum session presenting the new emergency government at the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem on October 12, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
June 22, 2026, 5:20 pm
Netanyahu is using a desperate Benny Gantz to do his political dirty work
Whether Gantz crosses the election threshold or not, his frantic campaigning and attacks on former political allies are serving the prime minister’s agenda perfectly
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks at a Yesh Atid conference in Tel Aviv on September 1, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
September 2, 2025, 3:57 am
Lapid: If Netanyahu wins the next election, ‘it will be the end of Zionism’
PM’s associate said urging restoration of direct elections for premiership amid polls showing Likud and allies failing to secure a Knesset majority
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Nathan Eshel at a meeting in the Knesset on May 20, 2019 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
June 27, 2025, 12:30 pm
A Netanyahu ally tells ToI no one will remember Oct. 7 by election time. He may be right
A triumphant narrative is being carefully crafted by the PM’s inner circle to fully clear him of responsibility for the disaster, as he systematically removes all ties to it
By Shalom Yerushalmi
File: Natan Eshel attends a memorial ceremony for Yoni Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's brother, at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, in Jerusalem, on June 16, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
May 18, 2023, 10:29 pm
Top Netanyahu associate warns against ‘playing with the lion’s balls’
Natan Eshel tells reporters they shouldn’t believe PM is losing grip on government, as coalition members make threats over state budget disagreements
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with his then-aide Natan Eshel, on August 28, 2011. (Amit Shabi/pool/Flash90/File)
July 8, 2020, 2:34 pm
Top Netanyahu aide says public, not government, to blame for renewed outbreak
With PM under fire for failing to take sufficient action to contain second coronavirus wave, Natan Eshel accuses ailing business owners of not following distancing rules
By ToI Staff
Natan Eshel at a meeting between the Likud party and the United Torah judaism party as part of the coalition negotiations, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on May 20, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
March 1, 2020, 10:01 am
After knocking ‘non-Ashkenazim,’ Netanyahu aide says he has Mizrahi grandkids
In statement on leaked recording in which he also said ‘hate is what unites’ the right, Natan Eshel insists his words were taken out of context
By ToI Staff
Natan Eshel at a meeting between the Likud party and the United Torah judaism party as part of the coalition negotiations, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on May 20, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
March 1, 2020, 1:38 am
Netanyahu, Shas leader chide Likud aide Eshel for saying base ‘united by hate’
Both indicate affair behind them as left-wing parties pound prime minister and say comments reveal true face of his party
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with his then-aide Natan Eshel, on August 28, 2011. (Amit Shabi/pool/Flash90/File)
February 29, 2020, 10:17 pm
Netanyahu aide in leaked recording: ‘Hate is what unites our camp’
Natan Eshel heard saying negative campaigning works well with ‘non-Ashkenazi’ voters and that the ‘animal’ Miri Regev is particularly effective at it
By ToI Staff
Rabbi Chaim Meir Druckman (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
February 20, 2020, 10:52 am
Netanyahu apologizes to prominent right-wing rabbi after aide’s mocking
PM sorry after Natan Eshel, in bid to get extremist Itamar Ben Gvir to quit race, disparages rabbi and supporters with dismissive Yiddish prefix ‘sh’: ‘Druckman and Shmuckman’
By ToI Staff
Joint List MK Abd al-Hakim Hajj Yahya reacts during a vote in the Knesset, April 5, 2017. (Hadas Parush/FLASH90)
September 24, 2019, 6:25 pm
Former Joint List MK says party met with Likud reps before Knesset dissolved
Duped by prank call from radio station, Abd al-Hakim Hajj Yahya reveals that Arab politicians met with Netanyahu associates Miki Zohar and Natan Eshel
By ToI Staff
Itamar Ben Gvir, chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party, speaks at the Central Election Committee in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on August 14, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
August 27, 2019, 3:53 am
Likud said pressuring far-right parties to drop out of election
Otzma Yehudit and Zehut both unlikely to garner enough votes to enter Knesset, but say they are not considering ending their campaigns
By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff
Ehud Barak, head of the Israel Democratic Party speaks during an election campaign event in Tel Aviv on June 26, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
July 17, 2019, 10:52 pm
Barak charges Netanyahu behind Daily Mail ‘blood libel’ tying him to Epstein
At campaign launch event, Israel Democratic Party leader goes on offensive against prime minister for his own ties to alleged sex offenders
By Jacob Magid and Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with representatives of the Joint (Arab) List party to discuss enlarging the budgets for Arab towns in Israel, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on August 31, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
June 23, 2019, 7:46 pm
Likud MK says Netanyahu mulled forming coalition with Arab parties
Miki Zohar says PM ultimately rejected reaching out to Ra’am-Balad and Hadash-Ta’al, as he scrambled to cobble together government; parties deny claim
By Jacob Magid
Blue and White MK Omer Yankelevich poses for a photo with her family ahead of the swearing-in of the 21st Knesset on April 30, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
May 1, 2019, 8:32 pm
Blue and White accuses Likud of trying to lure away its MKs
Moshe Ya’alon calls report that Netanyahu confidant working to convince ultra-Orthodox lawmaker to defect for coalition a ‘moral low’
By Alexander Fulbright
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks to supporters at the party's headquarters in Tel Aviv on April 10, 2019. (Gali Tibbon/AFP)
April 23, 2019, 8:18 pm
Netanyahu using coalition talks to secure immunity from prosecution, Gantz fumes
Leader of incoming Knesset’s main opposition party castigates PM for building government whose ‘unacceptable’ sole purpose is to protect him from indictment in graft cases
By ToI Staff
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