Gadi Eisenkot unveils Yashar’s final candidate list for 2026 election

With one day left before the deadline, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar submitted its final electoral list. At 40 candidates, the list is one of the longest and is filled with a mix of legacy politicians and new faces.

With Eisenkot being a former chief of staff, the list has a strong focus on candidates with a background in security and defense, ranging from reservists to commanders, but also a significant contingent of educators and cultural figures.

Yoram Cohen is the list's number 2 and a former head of the Shin Bet. Cohen served for over 30 years in the Shin Bet, monitoring and responding to threats in the West Bank, eventually rising to be the agency's director from 2011 to 2016. Cohen was the first religious person to hold the role.

Cohen returned to the political forefront in 2023, leading the campaign against the Likud's judicial reform from the right, arguing that the reform was tainted by Netanyahu's personal interests.

In a surprise merger, Hili Tropper joined Yashar as number 6 only a day after having split from The Reservists party with Yoaz Hendel. Tropper was a member of Gantz's Blue and White until this year, and served as a minister during Blue and White’s time in government.

Tropper said he joined Eisenkot to "grow, repair, build and do everything" to improve the country and heal the "deep fracture" caused by the war. Tropper was lauded in 2020 for donating a kidney to a complete stranger, becoming the first sitting Knesset member to do so, saying at the time, "I thought that if there is an opportunity to save someone’s life, then why not?"

Shira Shapira was placed 10th on the list. Previously an architect and urban planner, Shapira is also the former deputy director of the Heritage Ministry. Her life was transformed on October 7 when her son, Aner, was killed during the Nova Festival massacre. This personal tragedy propelled her to the forefront of hostage family campaigners as she pushed for a renewed vision for the future of Israel. Aner was at the Nova festival with his friend Hersh Goldberg-Polin and was killed after throwing seven grenades back out of a shelter.

Kamil Abu Rokan, number 13, joined Eisenkot's party in July and represents two major constituencies: the IDF General Staff and the Druze community. He served in the IDF for over 40 years, taking part in every major conflict during that period and rising to the rank of Aluf (major general), the second Druze person to do so.

Abu Rukun also served as head of COGAT from 2018 until 2021, when he retired. The Abu Rukun family also has deep roots in public service, his father was mayor of his hometown Isfiya for over 20 years. The Druze vote will be an important battlefield for Eisenkot as he tries to sway them from their traditional support for the Likud and more recently in Benny Gantz's Blue and White.

Dvora Sharifian-Bachar, the list's number 14, has perhaps the most interesting background of any politician. Sharifian-Bachar was born just after the Islamic Revolution in Iran and was smuggled out of the country at the age of 7 in a covert Mossad operation. She initially served as a counterterrorism field operative for the Shin Bet, fighting as part of the joint Shin Bet–Israel Police Tequila Team.

Sharifian-Bachar then served in the Mossad, where she specialized in data and cyber intelligence before going on to head the intelligence branch of the Mossad Operations Department. She said upon joining Eisenkot's party in July that that she was there to fight for the periphery and wanted to make clear that the state needs to give "every boy and girl in the periphery the tools to lead and excel."

Eisenkot's list is heavily focused on security, but each member represents a different sector of Israeli society, meaning that what initially appears to be a narrow slate is actually considerably broader. The list may appeal to many in Israel's center-right who have become dissatisfied with the Likud under Netanyahu and are now looking for a new vision that does not compromise on security.