THE Israeli Parliament has set the country’s general election for October 27, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to face a tough challenge from four leading political figures seeking to unseat him.
AFP reported on Monday that among the prominent contenders is former Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, 66, whose political rise has drawn attention following the deaths of his son and two nephews during the Gaza war.
Eisenkot entered politics in 2022 and previously served as a member of Netanyahu’s War Cabinet before resigning in 2024. He now leads a new political party, Yashar, which was established in 2025.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, 54, is also regarded as one of Netanyahu’s strongest challengers based on recent opinion polls.
The right-wing politician ended Netanyahu’s 12-year rule in 2021 by forming a coalition government before stepping away from frontline politics. He returned following the Hamas attack in October 2023 and later formed an alliance with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
Lapid, 62, a former television presenter, founded the centrist Yesh Atid party in 2012 and has previously served as finance minister, foreign minister and prime minister in 2022.
He remains one of the leading voices in the anti-Netanyahu camp, although political analysts believe he may struggle to form a government without broader coalition support.
Another contender is Avigdor Lieberman, 68, a secular nationalist politician who has previously held the foreign affairs, defence and finance portfolios.
Once a close ally of Netanyahu, Lieberman has become a vocal critic of the prime minister while advocating a firm security approach and mandatory military service for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
The October 27 election is expected to be a closely contested race, with all four challengers seeking to weaken Netanyahu’s political dominance and play a decisive role in forming Israel’s next government. - July 13, 2026
