Short answer: Yes. Gadi Eisenkot (also transliterated Eizenkot) is a former IDF Chief of Staff who has devoted his career, and after October 7, his own family's sacrifice, to Israel's defense. He served as a wartime minister without portfolio and war cabinet observer through mid-2024, lost a son and a nephew in the Gaza war, and remains an active Israeli political and public figure through 2026, now leading his own party, Yashar, ahead of the October 2026 election. As of August 2026.
What Gadi Eizenkot has actually said and done
2015 to 2019: Eisenkot served as the 21st Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, according to background reporting corroborated by Britannica.
2022: He entered politics as a member of Knesset for Benny Gantz's National Unity party, per his biographical record.
October 7, 2023 onward: After the Hamas attack, Eisenkot joined Israel's emergency wartime government as a minister without portfolio and observer in the war cabinet directing the Gaza campaign, per his biographical record.
December 7, 2023: Eisenkot's son, Master Sgt. Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, was killed in northern Gaza after a tunnel-shaft explosion during a hostage-rescue operation, reported by the BBC.
December 8, 2023: One day after his son's death, Eisenkot's nephew, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, 19, of the Golani Brigade, was killed during a raid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. This was reported by The Times of Israel, which also covered the funeral alongside The Jerusalem Post.
June 9, 2024: Eisenkot resigned from the war cabinet alongside Benny Gantz, saying in his resignation letter that outside political considerations had paralyzed wartime decision-making. Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet days later, according to The Times of Israel.
September 16, 2025: Eisenkot founded his own centrist party, Yashar! Im Eisenkot ("Straight/Upright, with Eisenkot"), after leaving National Unity, calling it a personal and national duty, per The Times of Israel.
July 2026: Ahead of Israel's election, due by October 27, 2026, polling showed Eisenkot's Yashar party running competitively with, and in some polls ahead of, Netanyahu's Likud, making him a leading challenger for prime minister. This was reported by Bloomberg and independently by Haaretz.
Context: a general's career, then a father's loss
Gadi Eisenkot is an Israeli general turned politician, not a celebrity or public figure outside Israel. His support for Israel is not a matter of gesture or endorsement, it is his career and, since October 2023, his family's direct loss. He led the IDF as Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2019, then returned to public life after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack as a minister in the wartime unity government and an observer in the war cabinet overseeing the Gaza campaign. Within 24 hours in December 2023, he lost both his son and a nephew in Gaza combat.
Eisenkot has been publicly critical of the Netanyahu government's wartime strategy, particularly its lack of a defined exit plan and what he called political considerations overriding military and hostage-recovery priorities, which led to his June 2024 resignation from the war cabinet. He has continued in Israeli politics since, most recently founding his own party, Yashar, in September 2025, and by mid-2026 was polling as one of the strongest challengers to Prime Minister Netanyahu ahead of the election expected by late October 2026. There is no indication in the public record of any boycott participation, anti-Israel statement, or ambiguity about his commitment to Israel; his entire public identity is built on Israeli national service and security leadership.
The bottom line
Gadi Eisenkot unambiguously supports Israel: he commanded its armed forces, served in its wartime government, lost close family in its defense, and is now seeking to lead the country. His public criticism has been of specific government wartime decisions and strategy, not of Israel itself.
Carry that support with you
Public figures like Eisenkot show what standing with Israel looks like in service and sacrifice. For everyday ways to carry that same solidarity, our Support Israel collection includes pieces like the I Stand With Israel bracelet, a simple, wearable way to show where you stand.
Related
Does Benny Gantz Support Israel?
Does Tzipi Livni Support Israel?
Does Ehud Barak Support Israel?
Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
