Former Blue and White-National Unity party number two and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot announced on Tuesday the establishment of his new political party called “Yashar! With Eisenkot.”
After quitting Benny Gantz’s National Unity party in July, Eisenkot has formed a party that “will work for repair, healing, and hope for Israeli society,” according to a statement.
“Yashar” literally means “straight” in English, but it also conveys a sense of moral integrity — being upright, honest, and transparent. According to Matan Kahana, a member of the party, the name was primarily a reference to comments by freed Hamas hostage Eli Sharabi, who said in an interview earlier this year that releasing the other captives was “not about right or left [wing]but straight (Yashar).”
The party was co-founded alongside 120 members from Israel’s tech, political, and military leadership, including former Religious Affairs Minister Kahana, who resigned from Gantz’s National Unity party shortly after Eisenkot’s departure.
Following Eisenkot’s and Kahana’s resignations, the party changed its name from National Unity to Blue and White-National Unity.
Other members of the new party include former director general of the Prime Minister’s Office Yoav Horowitz; retired major general Tal Rousso; Wix president Nir Zohar; and Shir Siegel, daughter of former hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel, and an activist and advocate for the hostages.
National Unity MKs Gadi Eisenkot and Matan Kahana chat ahead of a press conference in Tel Aviv, July 1, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
“The establishment of Yashar! With Eisenkot, it is both a personal and national imperative,” said Eisenkot in a statement. “The party will place Israel’s security and national interests above all other considerations, establish a broad governing alternative, and serve as a foundation for further unity, all to ensure the State of Israel’s existence as Jewish, democratic, and strong, in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.”
He added: “The citizens of Israel deserve leadership that serves the public with integrity and with a deep commitment to our shared future, to Israel’s prosperity as a model society in the eyes of its citizens and of the world.”
The move came amid jostling and maneuvering among opposition parties, which seek to present a united front ahead of the next election, scheduled to be held by October 2026.
Eisenkot’s resignation from both Blue and White and the Knesset prompted much speculation over whether he would join forces with an existing opposition party or form his own.
He met with Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid in September, where they agreed to convene a meeting of all of the leaders of the so-called Change Bloc to “deepen coordination and begin formulating the basic guidelines for the next government, following the talks and meetings that have taken place in recent days,” a spokesman for Yesh Atid said.
In addition to Lapid, Eisenkot has met with Democrats chair Yair Golan and met repeatedly with former prime minister Naftali Bennett, the latter of whom is also forming a new party.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett (right) meets with former MK Gadi Eisenkot to discuss their political futures, September 7, 2025. (Courtesy Naftali Bennett’s office)
Following the announcement of Yashar! With Eisenkot, Lapid was quick to offer his congratulations in a post on X, writing: “Together we will succeed and change the direction of the State of Israel.”
Golan urged the opposition parties to unite.
“Israel is at its most dangerous point, and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is leading Israeli democracy into the most serious crisis in our history. We don’t have the privilege of divisions in the democratic camp,” Golan posted on X, congratulating Eisenkot.
“Gadi, let’s unite. Win. And save Israel,” he continued.
Since leaving Blue and White, Eisenkot has stated that while he and Gantz had worked together for many years and continue to respect each other, their differences eventually drove them apart politically.
He has since been sharply critical of his former running mate, urging him to step down and pave the way for an alternative slate, as the party is now hovering around the electoral threshold.
He has also become an outspoken critic of the government’s approach to the war.
Eisenkot’s son, Gal, was killed while serving in the IDF in Gaza in December 2023, while Eisenkot was a member of a since-dissolved emergency war cabinet formed in the wake of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre and launch of the Gaza war.
Since resigning from the Knesset, he has said that Netanyahu’s government “is not worthy” of his son, of other soldiers and hostages who have lost their lives in the nearly two-year war, due to “cowardice, because of political indecision, because of the political and ideological considerations of people who want to resettle the Gaza Strip.”
