The Israeli politicians seeking to replace Netanyahu

A look at Israel’s main opposition leaders, their parties and their largely shared positions on Gaza and other wars before October 27 election.

Do any of these Israeli candidates support a Palestinian state?

On September 26, five leading members of Israel’s self-styled Zionist opposition signed a non-aggression pact, seeking to oust incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu in the October 27 election.

Gathered at the Tel Aviv home of opposition leader Yair Lapid were his co-runner, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of Beyachad; former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new Yashar party; Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party; and Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party.

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In the statement of principles published after the hours-long meeting, the leaders said, “Despite ideological differences among us, the formation of a Zionist, statesmanlike government dedicated to repair and reconstruction is our shared overarching goal.”

However, whether they offer meaningful change in substance as well as style, or which one of them might lead a future coalition, remains open to question .

From left, Israeli opposition leaders Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman meet on September 26, 2026 [Courtesy of Yair Lapid via X]

With the exception of Golan, all take a fundamentally right-wing approach to Israel’s challenges.

None is committed to establishing a Palestinian state, with only the Democrats acknowledging it as a distant, unspecified goal. None, Golan included, accepts that Israel’s war on Gaza amounts to genocide or that it has committed war crimes in killing more than 74,000 people there. Nor has any questioned Israeli military actions against Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Qatar and Iran, instead reserving criticism mostly for how those actions have allowed Israel to be perceived internationally.

“The dominant forces in the opposition such as Bennett, Liberman or Eisenkot represent right-wing politics,” said Ahron Bregman, an Israeli analyst and senior teaching fellow at King’s College London. “They are not willing to touch the real, fundamental issue which is at the heart of everything: the Palestinian issue, and the Palestinian aspirations for independence.” He likened them to Netanyahu, but without the corruption allegations and support of far-right figures, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “Israel as a whole is a right-wing nation,” he added.

So, who are the main opposition figures and what do their parties stand for?

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, delivers a speech [File: Erik Marmor/Getty Images]

Gadi Eisenkot – Yashar

Credited with originating the Dahiyeh Doctrine in 2008, involving “ disproportionate force ” and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure against groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Eisenkot served as Israeli military chief from 2015 to 2019.

The 66-year-old entered politics in 2022 with former Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity alliance and later joined the war cabinet assembled by Netanyahu after the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In December that year, his son Gal, 25, and two nephews were killed while participating in the genocide in Gaza, losses commentators say have helped forge a connection with an electorate that has come to see itself as scarred by war.

In June 2024, he quit the war cabinet alongside Gantz , accusing Netanyahu of lacking a strategy to end the war. A year later, Eisenkot founded the centrist Yashar (Straight/Honest), advocating for professional government, military service for all – including ultra-Orthodox Jews – and a state commission of inquiry into the failings before October 7.

While notoriously ambiguous on many of Israel’s foreign policy positions, he has been critical of the government’s reliance upon the United States in achieving its war aims, while not questioning those aims themselves. In June, he characterised Washington’s mediated negotiations with Tehran to end the war against Iran that Washington had embarked upon with Israel as “a deal taking shape far from here and far from Israeli interests” and, the same month, railed against US restrictions on Israel’s freedom of action in Lebanon.

Eisenkot has ruled out including the United Arab List, or Ra’am party, in a post-election coalition. In a September 26 Channel 12 interview , he said no Arab party would accept his conditions, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Former Israeli Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett, left, and Yair Lapid, right [File: Abir Sultan/EPA]

Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid – Beyachad

Beyachad (Together) is the joint list announced in April 2026 by former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, who served for a combined 18 months in 2021-2022 between Netanyahu governments.

Bennett, a 54-year-old longtime supporter of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, leads the list, with Lapid, the 62-year-old founder of the centrist Yesh Atid party, in second place.

Lapid has called his partner “a right-wing politician, but an honest one”. Neither has prioritised resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or supported a Palestinian state. Though their 2021 coalition included Ra’am, Bennett has acknowledged that this broke an electoral promise.

Lapid has been one of Israel’s most outspoken critics of how its genocide and multiple strikes upon its neighbours are perceived internationally, while rarely questioning the rationale behind those actions. Bennett, in contrast, is more outspoken in his hawkish views. A full-throated supporter of the country’s war on Iran, he also congratulated Israel’s military and security services for a September 2025 attack on Qatar’s capital, Doha, that targeted senior Hamas leaders as they met to consider a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by the US. A Qatari security official was killed in the attack, which drew condemnation from across the region and beyond.

They now seek a government composed solely of Zionist parties, also ruling out reliance on Arab parties.

Avigdor Lieberman speaks at a Yisrael Beiteinu party meeting [File: Amir Levy/Getty Images]

Avigdor Lieberman – Yisrael Beiteinu

The most hawkish voice at Lapid’s table, Lieberman, 68, founded Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) in 1999 to represent right-leaning Russian-speaking immigrants.

Once Netanyahu’s protege, Lieberman has ruled out serving under him or joining a coalition that includes the ultra-Orthodox or relies on Arab parties, which he calls anti-Zionist. He has also rejected a minority government, reportedly making him a principal obstacle to Eisenkot becoming the bloc’s prime ministerial candidate.

In November 2023, Lieberman repeated his 2018 assertion, made then as defence minister, that there were “no innocents in Gaza”. In February, he visited the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, and accused Netanyahu’s government of funding Hamas by allowing the minimal humanitarian aid that has been permitted into Gaza.

The Yisrael Beiteinu leader has been a consistent supporter of Israel’s genocide and subsequent military actions. In September 2025, he joined other Israeli politicians in criticising Netanyahu for the apology to Doha that he had been forced to make by the Trump administration for that month’s strike, saying the apology was instead owed to the Israeli public. Equally, he has argued against any restraint in its invasion of Lebanon, telling the Jerusalem Post in March: “If once again we go for a limited operation, some manoeuvre near the border, maybe talk about a security zone, it’s complete madness.”

“Lieberman does not belong in this bloc,” said Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an Israeli analyst with Atlas Global Strategies, arguing that his main motivation was hatred of Netanyahu.

However, Ben-Ephraim said, Lieberman “maintains a loyal base and is a crucial force in Israeli politics”. His core constituency is the former Soviet electorate, but he has gained wider trust through his perceived independence.

Observers say he could potentially return to Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc.

Yair Golan, the leader of ‘The Democrats’ a left-wing political alliance, is interviewed by Reuters in his office in Tel Aviv [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

Yair Golan – Democrats

The only leader at Lapid’s table from the Zionist left and the only one open to working with Palestinian parties, Golan heads the Democrats, a liberal party that was formed in 2024 through the merger of Labor and the social democratic, secular Meretz.

A retired major-general and former deputy chief of staff, Golan, 64, earned domestic plaudits for driving south during the 2023 Hamas-led attack and helping repel it.

Golan is alone among many in the anti-Netanyahu bloc in his criticism of the government’s war aims, arguing that military achievements are being squandered without a coherent diplomatic and political strategy

In May 2025, two years into the genocide in Gaza, Golan sparked controversy when he told a news conference that a “ sane country does not kill babies as a hobby ”, accusing ministers of celebrating the starvation of Palestinian children in the territory. He later walked back the comments after widespread criticism in Israel. In October, while praising the achievements of the previous year’s 12-day war against Iran, he told party members that the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the conflict was a “mistake”. “Not because he didn’t deserve to die,” he caveated, “only because it doesn’t serve the interests of the State of Israel.”

Despite his openness to working with Palestinian parties, in September, Golan backed the disqualification of Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Arab Balad party, over an article about October 7, drawing criticism from the Joint List – an alliance of the Arab-led Hadash, Ta’al and Balad parties – and commentators.

Roi Zur, a University of Essex specialist in Israeli politics, said that despite Golan and Lieberman’s ideological differences on security and conflict, there will be “no winning coalition without these two”. He added that concerns about a clash between them miss the point, noting that both oppose Netanyahu, favour secularisation and strongly oppose exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

在10月27日大选之前，让我们来看看以色列主要反对派领导人、他们的政党以及他们在加沙和其他战争问题上大致相同的立场。

这些以色列候选人中有人支持巴勒斯坦建国吗？

9月26日，以色列自称犹太复国主义反对派的五位主要成员签署了一项互不侵犯条约，旨在10月27日的大选中推翻现任总统本杰明·内塔尼亚胡。

反对派领导人亚伊尔·拉皮德在特拉维夫的家中聚集了以下人士：他的竞选搭档、前总理、贝亚查德党领导人纳夫塔利·贝内特；前总参谋长、新成立的亚沙尔党领导人加迪·艾森科特；民主党领导人亚伊尔·戈兰；以及以色列家园党领导人阿维格多·利伯曼。

列表 1/4：加沙种族灭绝战争如何影响以色列选举

列表 2/4：尽管与内塔尼亚胡有着长期的交情，但随着以色列公投临近，特朗普的态度有所缓和。

以色列反对派发出外交政策风格转变的信号（共四项），但实质内容并无变化（第三项）。

列表 4/4：如果内塔尼亚胡下台，巴勒斯坦人的处境真的会有所改变吗？

在长达数小时的会议结束后发表的原则声明中，领导人表示：“尽管我们之间存在意识形态分歧，但组建一个致力于修复和重建的犹太复国主义政治家式政府是我们共同的首要目标。”

然而，他们能否在实质和风格上带来有意义的改变，或者他们之中谁可能会领导未来的联盟，仍有待商榷。

2026年9月26日，以色列反对派领导人亚伊尔·拉皮德、加迪·艾森科特、亚伊尔·戈兰、纳夫塔利·贝内特和阿维格多·利伯曼（从左至右）会面。[图片由亚伊尔·拉皮德提供，经X授权]

除了戈兰之外，其他所有政党都对以色列面临的挑战采取了根本性的右翼立场。

没有一个政党致力于建立巴勒斯坦国，只有民主党承认这是一个遥远且未明确的目标。包括戈兰在内，没有一个政党承认以色列对加沙的战争构成种族灭绝，也没有一个政党承认以色列在加沙杀害了超过74000人犯下战争罪行。也没有一个政党质疑以色列对黎巴嫩、叙利亚、也门、卡塔尔和伊朗的军事行动，而是主要批评这些行动如何影响了以色列的国际形象。

“像贝内特、利伯曼和艾森科特这样的反对派主导力量代表着右翼政治，”以色列分析家、伦敦国王学院高级讲师阿伦·布雷格曼说道。“他们不愿触及一切问题的核心——巴勒斯坦问题以及巴勒斯坦人争取独立的愿望。”他将他们比作内塔尼亚胡，但没有内塔尼亚胡那样的腐败指控，也没有像国家安全部长伊塔马尔·本-格维尔和财政部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇那样的极右翼人士的支持。“以色列整体上是一个右翼国家，”他补充道。

那么，主要的反对派人物有哪些？他们的政党代表什么？

亚沙尔党领袖加迪·艾森科特发表讲话 [图片来源：Erik Marmor/Getty Images]

加迪·艾森科特 – 亚沙尔

艾森科特于 2008 年创立了达希耶主义，该主义主张对真主党和哈马斯等组织使用“不成比例的武力”并大规模破坏民用基础设施。他于 2015 年至 2019 年担任以色列军事首脑。

这位66岁的老人于2022年加入前国防部长本尼·甘茨领导的民族团结联盟，步入政坛。2023年10月7日，哈马斯领导的袭击事件发生在以色列南部后，他加入了内塔尼亚胡组建的战时内阁。同年12月，他25岁的儿子加尔和两个侄子在加沙参与种族灭绝时丧生。评论员认为，这些损失有助于他与饱受战争创伤的选民建立联系。

2024年6月，他与甘茨一同辞去战时内阁职务，指责内塔尼亚胡缺乏结束战争的战略。一年后，艾森科特创立了中间派政党“亚沙尔”（意为“正直/诚实”），倡导建立职业政府，要求所有人（包括极端正统犹太教徒）服兵役，并成立国家委员会调查10月7日之前的种种失职行为。

尽管他对以色列的许多外交政策立场向来含糊不清，但他一直批评以色列政府在实现其战争目标时依赖美国，却并未质疑这些目标本身。今年6月，他将华盛顿斡旋德黑兰以结束对伊战争的谈判描述为“一项远离以色列利益、远离以色列本土的协议”，并在同月猛烈抨击美国限制以色列在黎巴嫩的行动自由。

艾森科特已排除将联合阿拉伯名单党（又称拉姆党）纳入选后联合政府的可能性。在9月26日接受以色列第12频道采访时，他表示，没有任何阿拉伯政党会接受他的条件，包括承认以色列为犹太国家。

以色列前总理纳夫塔利·贝内特（左）和亚伊尔·拉皮德（右）[图片：Abir Sultan/EPA]

纳夫塔利·贝内特、Yair Lapid – Beyachad

Beyachad（团结）是前总理纳夫塔利·贝内特和亚伊尔·拉皮德于 2026 年 4 月宣布的联合名单，他们在 2021-2022 年期间，在内塔尼亚胡政府之间共任职 18 个月。

54 岁的贝内特长期支持在被占领的西岸建立非法定居点，位居榜首；62 岁的拉皮德是中间派政党“未来党”的创始人，位居第二。

拉皮德称他的搭档是“一位右翼政客，但为人诚实”。两人都没有将解决以巴冲突列为优先事项，也不支持建立巴勒斯坦国。尽管他们在2021年的联合政府中加入了拉姆，但贝内特承认这违背了竞选承诺。

拉皮德一直是以色列最直言不讳的批评者之一，他批评以色列的种族灭绝行为以及对邻国的多次袭击在国际上受到的舆论影响，却很少质疑这些行动背后的逻辑。相比之下，贝内特则更加直言不讳地表达其鹰派观点。他全力支持以色列对伊朗的战争，并祝贺以色列军方和安全部门在2025年9月对卡塔尔首都多哈发动袭击。当时，哈马斯高级领导人正在开会讨论美国提出的加沙停火方案。一名卡塔尔安全官员在袭击中丧生，此次袭击引发了该地区乃至全世界的谴责。

他们现在寻求组建一个完全由犹太复国主义政党组成的政府，同时排除依靠阿拉伯政党的可能性。

阿维格多·利伯曼在以色列家园党会议上发表讲话 [图片：Amir Levy/Getty Images]

阿维格多·利伯曼 – 伊斯雷尔·贝泰努

拉皮德餐桌上最鹰派的声音是 68 岁的利伯曼，他于 1999 年创立了 Yisrael Beiteinu（以色列，我们的家园），代表右倾的俄语移民。

利伯曼曾是内塔尼亚胡的门生，但他已明确表示不会在其领导下任职，也不会加入任何包含极端正统派或依赖阿拉伯政党的联合政府，他称这些政党为反犹太复国主义政党。他还拒绝组建少数派政府，据报道，这使他成为艾森科特成为该联盟总理候选人的主要障碍。

2023年11月，利伯曼重申了他2018年担任国防部长时发表的言论，即“加沙没有无辜者”。同年2月，他访问了卡雷姆阿布萨利姆过境点（以色列人称之为凯雷姆沙洛姆），并指责内塔尼亚胡政府通过允许极少量的人道主义援助进入加沙，从而资助哈马斯。

以色列贝特努党领袖一直以来都支持以色列的种族灭绝及其后续军事行动。2025年9月，他与其他以色列政客一道批评内塔尼亚胡，指责他迫于特朗普政府的压力，就当月的空袭向多哈道歉。内塔尼亚胡认为，以色列应该向公众道歉。同样，他也反对以色列在入侵黎巴嫩问题上采取任何克制措施。今年3月，他告诉《耶路撒冷邮报》：“如果我们再次采取有限的军事行动，在边境附近进行一些演习，或者讨论设立安全区，那简直是疯了。”

“利伯曼不属于这个阵营，”以色列阿特拉斯全球战略公司的分析师沙伊尔·本-埃弗雷姆说道，他认为利伯曼的主要动机是对内塔尼亚胡的仇恨。

然而，本-埃弗雷姆表示，利伯曼“拥有忠实的支持者群体，是以色列政坛的一股关键力量”。他的核心支持者是前苏联选民，但他凭借其被认为的独立性赢得了更广泛的信任。

观察人士称，他有可能重返内塔尼亚胡的右翼阵营。

左翼政治联盟“民主党”领导人亚伊尔·戈兰在特拉维夫的办公室接受路透社采访。[埃洛伊萨·洛佩兹/路透社]

亚伊尔·戈兰——民主党

戈兰是拉皮德谈判桌上唯一一位来自犹太复国主义左翼的领导人，也是唯一一位愿意与巴勒斯坦政党合作的领导人。他领导着民主党，这是一个自由主义政党，于 2024 年由工党和社会民主世俗政党梅雷茨合并而成。

戈兰现年 64 岁，是一名退役少将和前副参谋长，在 2023 年哈马斯领导的袭击中，他驱车南下，帮助击退了袭击，赢得了国内的赞誉。

在众多反对内塔尼亚胡的人士中，戈兰是唯一一位批评政府战争目标的人。他认为，缺乏连贯的外交和政治战略，军事成就正在被白白浪费。

2025年5月，加沙种族灭绝发生两年后，戈兰在一次新闻发布会上发表言论，称“一个理智的国家不会把杀害婴儿当作消遣”，并指责以色列部长们庆祝巴勒斯坦儿童在加沙挨饿，此番言论引发争议。在以色列国内遭到广泛批评后，他收回了这些言论。同年10月，在赞扬前一年对伊朗发动的12天战争的成果时，他告诉党内成员，在冲突初期刺杀伊朗最高领袖阿里·哈梅内伊是一个“错误”。他补充道：“并非因为他不该死，而是因为这不符合以色列国的利益。”

尽管戈兰对与巴勒斯坦各党派合作持开放态度，但在 9 月份，他支持取消阿拉伯巴拉德党领导人萨米·阿布·谢哈德的参选资格，原因是后者发表了一篇关于 10 月 7 日的文章，这引起了由阿拉伯人领导的哈达什党、塔阿勒党和巴拉德党组成的联合名单以及评论员的批评。

埃塞克斯大学以色列政治专家罗伊·祖尔表示，尽管戈兰和利伯曼在安全和冲突问题上存在意识形态分歧，但“没有这两人，就不可能组建成功的联合政府”。他还补充说，担心两人之间会发生冲突是不得要领的，因为两人都反对内塔尼亚胡，支持世俗化，并且强烈反对极端正统派犹太人免服兵役。