Eisenkot Pledges to Destroy Hamas in Gaza

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot pledged on Thursday to destroy Hamas’s military wing and dismantle its leadership within 18 months of becoming prime minister. He set out the proposed military objective during a briefing at the Gaza border.

"I pledge that within 18 months of taking office as prime minister, Hamas will no longer rule the Gaza Strip. We will destroy Hamas' military wing," Eisenkot said ahead of the October 27 elections. He said his government would pursue that goal either through action based on President Trump's framework, accepted by Netanyahu's government, or through military and operational capabilities.

The proposed campaign

Eisenkot said he would draw up a plan to eliminate Hamas with the heads of the defense establishment. He said the plan would "restore the National Security Council" and go before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

He cited his experience in the IDF, Mossad and security establishments as the basis for his confidence. Eisenkot rose through the IDF's Golani infantry brigade, served as OC Northern Command and served as chief of staff from 2015 - 2019. His career placed him at the center of Israel's confrontation with Iranian forces and their allies in Syria.

Citing intelligence reports and senior security officials, Eisenkot said Hamas was "restoring its military capabilities, reestablishing itself in the Gaza Strip, and attempting to carry out terrorist acts against us." He presented those claims as part of his case for a new national strategy and an end to Hamas's rule in Gaza.

He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lacking strategic military objectives. "Let it be clear: as long as Benjamin Netanyahu is in power, Hamas will remain in power," Eisenkot said. "There is a way to prevent the next disaster, if we make courageous decisions and formulate a national strategy."

Inquiry and political dispute

Eisenkot also promised to establish a State Commission of Inquiry into government failures on October 7 within 150 days of a new government's establishment. The source said no probe had taken place more than three years after the massacre, while the political echelon had repeatedly blocked the commission's establishment. Netanyahu had repeatedly opposed including judicial appointments in the investigation.

Netanyahu's ruling Likud party challenged Eisenkot's pledge by pointing to potential Arab party partners. "How would you destroy Hamas without getting permission from your partners, Mansour [Abbas] and [Ahmed] Tibi?" the party said, suggesting that a government including Arab parties would prevent an operation in Gaza.

The article points to a different precedent: Abbas's Ra'am joined a coalition that carried out strikes against Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Those actions included an IDF operation targeting Hamas tunnels days after the coalition formed in June 2021 and the 2022 Operation Breaking Dawn.

Eisenkot replied that Netanyahu and Likud had "misled Israel's citizens and strengthened Hamas" for 17 years. He said: "If you had focused a little more on doing your job and a little less on drafting talking points, perhaps October 7 could have been prevented. In 12 days, you're going home."

Eisenkot has repeatedly said he wouldn't allow Abbas or Tibi's Joint List to join his coalition, and told The Jerusalem Post he didn't consider them viable partners. He said the next government's basic guidelines would exclude anyone who didn't accept that Hamas was a terrorist organization that "needs to be dismantled and destroyed." He added: "And therefore I do not see an Arab party that accepts my principles."

Opposition from Netanyahu allies

People of Israel leader Ofer Winter attacked Eisenkot's record as chief of staff, saying he "embodied the 'conzeptzia (military mentality of containment),' pushed for containment and negotiated arrangements, and called for the war to stop before we entered Rafah." Winter also cited Eisenkot's appointments of Yair Golan, Aharon Haliva and Herzi Halevi. He said a government led by Eisenkot and Yair Golan couldn't deliver a decisive victory.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit party, accused Eisenkot of lying. Ben-Gvir said Eisenkot had demanded a complete halt to the war, a full withdrawal from Gaza and the release of all terrorists from Israeli prisons. He also said Eisenkot opposed taking Rafah, entering the Philadelphi Corridor and taking the security zone in Lebanon.