Israel’s Yashar Party, headed by Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot, on Monday submitted its final list of Knesset candidates to the country’s Central Elections Committee ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.
Former chief of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) Yoram Cohen is second on the list, followed by Knesset member Orit Farkash-Hacohen, a former member of Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party, and Adi Altschuler, a social entrepreneur the party is designating for the education minister role if it is tasked with forming Israel’s next coalition.
Additional candidates include former ministers Col. (res.) Matan Kahana and Chili Tropper at fifth and sixth place, respectively; Shira Shapira, mother of Aner Shapira, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while defending civilians at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, placed 10th; former minister Maj. Gen. (res.) Elazar Stern at 12th; and former Mossad and Shin Bet operative Devorah Sharifian Bachar placed at 14th.
In a Facebook post containing the full 40-name list, Eisenkot wrote in Hebrew, “Yashar was founded out of a deep love for the State of Israel and a belief that we can and must do things differently here.”
He continued, “Joining me are men and women from the fields of security and education, economics and society. Young and experienced, from all parts of the country and all segments of Israeli society—and, as we pledged, gender equality between women and men!”
Democracy and cost of living on the party’s agenda
The unveiling was accompanied by an event hosted by Yashar in the city of Rosh Ha’ayin on Monday evening, where several candidates spoke to JNS.
“We are a winning list that includes all parts of Israeli society,” said lawmaker Farkash-Hacohen. “Active and experienced people, newcomers, women and men, women who have served as ministers, and people with backgrounds in the fields of economics, education, health and mental health. We have plans and aspirations to enter government and start fixing things,” she said.
Kahana told JNS that after the upcoming elections, “I am planning to act with all my strength for the Israeli people. We would have wanted all the Zionist factions that believe in a democratic and Jewish State of Israel, believe in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and support service for all to be part of the next government. This is the dream.”
Shaul Meridor, the former director of the Israeli Finance Ministry’s Budget Department and son of longtime Likud Party member Dan Meridor, seventh on the party slate, told JNS that Yashar “want[s] to be democratic and liberal.”
He added, “Beyond the issues of service for all and state education for all, we must lower the cost of living in Israel. We must address it and make sure that it is not so expensive to live here. And finally, the north and the south must be rehabilitated after this war, and young people must return to live there and raise their children there.”
Former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry directorate responsible for integrating young ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli military Inbar Harush Giti, No. 11 on the list, hailed her party’s varied list.
“Fifty percent are women,” she told JNS, “and it includes people who have done great things for the State of Israel. They come from all parts of the country and from a wide range of backgrounds. What they have in common is that they want to see a national and Zionist country here.”
Smotrich warns of Judea and Samaria policies
Last month, Eisenkot said he is against the timing of newly announced construction tenders in E1, an area east of Jerusalem and within the municipal boundary of Ma’ale Adumim. The comments came after the Israel Land Authority said it would market to contractors and entrepreneurs the first 1,400 housing units of E1 (“East 1”), a strategically significant area in Judea.
“Not now. It is a mistake that comes at an international cost. I would note that Netanyahu himself opposed it for a long time, but yielded because of coalition pressure and approved it,” Eisenkot said.
His response drew a sharp rebuke from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees the body responsible for approving construction and handling other bureaucratic matters in Area C of Judea and Samaria.
“The truth is out. The concessions by the Eisenkot-Liberman-Golan government began even before it came to power,” Smotrich wrote. “The construction I am advancing in the E1 area is cutting short the dream of establishing a terror state next to Jerusalem. Anyone who opposes construction in E1 supports the establishment of a Palestinian state—even if they lie to you and try to present a different position.”
Smotrich warned on Sunday that the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria would be endangered if the opposition came to power, pointing to comments by Yoram Cohen.
Appearing on Saturday night on Channel 12’s “Meet the Press,” Cohen, who is No. 2 on the Yashar Party list, said, “What was built by the government according to a government decision and it’s legal—I’m in favor of it, and with continuing it going forward.” But, he said, “What is illegal or not built with a government decision in advance and according to planning—I am against.”
Speaking of construction that Smotrich helped advance, Cohen said, “I’m not sure that everything he built was according to government decision. We have to look into it.”
Smotrich responded, “For long months now, I have been warning that the Eisenkot government will evacuate the settlements and farms we established. Now, Yoram Cohen, a senior figure in the Eisenkot party, is saying it in his own voice.”
The 40 names on Yashar’s slate are:
- Gadi Eisenkot
- Yoram Cohen
- Orit Farkash-Hacohen
- Adi Altschuler
- Matan Kahana
- Chili Tropper
- Shaul Meridor
- Tair Ifergan
- Oshrat Gani Gonen
- Shira Shapira
- Inbar Harush Giti
- Elazar Stern
- Kamil Abu Rukun
- Devorah Sharifian Bachar
- Alex Rif
- Inbar Yehezkeli
- Roy Folkman
- Israel Zari
- Tal Ohana Hachmon
- Elyasaf Peretz
- Yaffa Tabaja
- Nir Hagbi
- Ron Barkai
- Shay Fisher
- Lian Folk David
- Roee Cohen
- Ziv Rosen
- Jocelyn Bash
- Alon Futerman
- Tali Molner
- Gil Avriel
- Shiran Ben David Ozri
- Eliran Eliyahu
- Helen Gelber
- Shlomi Yahiav
- Hila Meir
- Ran Ben Atia
- Eliana Sachs
- Gidi Zaga
- Moshe Davidovich
