Jerusalem: As Israel heads into a fiercely contested general election on October 27, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the principal challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot's rise comes at a pivotal moment in Israeli politics, with the election widely viewed as a referendum on the long-serving premier's leadership in the violent aftermath of Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. According to France24.com, a recent Channel 12 poll put Eisenkot's new party, Yashar (Hebrew for "Straight" or "Upright"), ahead of Netanyahu's Likud, projecting 23 seats to Likud's 22 in the 120-member Knesset. The same survey found that 43 percent of respondents considered Eisenkot, 66, the most suitable candidate for prime minister, compared with 34 percent for Netanyahu. Eisenkot, who has dismissed calls for a future Palestinian state as irrelevant after the October 7 attacks and pioneered Israel's strategy of disproportionate military responses in Lebanon, has built his campaign around a 10-point platform that he says will restore Israel's security, unity, and democratic institutions. Chief of staff of the Israeli military between 2015 and 2019, Eisenkot was among those credited with developing the "Dahiya Doctrine", a strategy for responding to Hezbollah threats. At the center of his civilian manifesto is a pledge to establish a state commission of inquiry into Hamas's bloody 2023 cross-border attack, which triggered the Gaza war and quickly expanded into a broader regional conflict. Tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated in support of such an inquiry, while Netanyahu's coalition has proposed a commission whose members would be chosen by politicians. Eisenkot also promises a "new long-term national security doctrine" aimed at strengthening the military and reinforcing Israel's borders. A central plank of this is a "universal national service law" that would extend compulsory service to ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens. He has also pledged to "protect judicial independence, th e rule of law, minority rights, and a free press". Relatively new to politics, Eisenkot has attracted widespread public sympathy after his son, Gal, and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza. His call for universal military service has become a defining issue of his campaign, putting him at the forefront of opposition to Netanyahu's alliance with ultra-Orthodox parties. Unlike Netanyahu, who comes from one of Israel's elite families, Eisenkot is the son of Moroccan immigrants and grew up on the country's geographic periphery. His understated style could prove to be one of his strongest political assets, appealing to the middle and upper middle classes looking for a responsible leader. Although opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett remain in contention, current polling suggests neither is as well positioned as Eisenkot to defeat Netanyahu. For liberal centrist voters, Eisenkot increasingly represents the opposition candidate with the strongest chance of unseating Netanyahu.