Eisenkot Pledges to Destroy Hamas’ Military Wing

Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot pledged to destroy Hamas’s military wing and end its rule in the Gaza Strip within 18 months of becoming prime minister. He said intelligence reports showed the group was restoring its capabilities and attempting terrorist acts against Israel.

At a Gaza border briefing on Thursday ahead of the October 27 elections, Eisenkot said Hamas wouldn’t rule Gaza under his leadership. “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,” he said.

Eisenkot said he could pursue the goal through action based on President Trump's framework, which Netanyahu's government accepted, or through military and operational capabilities. He said he’d develop a plan with the heads of the defense establishment and present it to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Hamas’s Military Capabilities

Eisenkot said intelligence reports and senior security officials indicated Hamas was “restoring its military capabilities, reestablishing itself in the Gaza Strip, and attempting to carry out terrorist acts against us.” The briefing offered no further details about the reported activity and identified no specific planned attacks.

He said his experience in the IDF, Mossad and security establishments gave him confidence he could dismantle Hamas. Eisenkot rose through the IDF's Golani infantry brigade, served as OC Northern Command, and served as chief of staff from 2015 to 2019. According to the article, his military career put him at the center of Israel's confrontation with Iranian forces and their allies in Syria.

Eisenkot said he’d pair a Hamas plan with a return to the National Security Council’s role, promising to “restore the National Security Council.” He also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 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.”

Dispute Over Coalition Partners

Netanyahu's ruling Likud party questioned whether Eisenkot could fulfill his pledge with Arab parties in a governing coalition. “How would you destroy Hamas without getting permission from your partners, Mansour [Abbas] and [Ahmed] Tibi?” the party said.

The article noted that Abbas's Ra'am had joined a coalition during strikes against Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These actions included an IDF operation targeting Hamas tunnels days after the coalition formed in June 2021, as well as the 2022 Operation Breaking Dawn. The article also said Eisenkot had repeatedly stated that he wouldn’t allow Abbas or Tibi's Joint List into his coalition and had told The Jerusalem Post he didn’t consider them viable partners.

Eisenkot said his next government would exclude parties that didn’t accept Hamas as a terrorist organization and agree that it must be dismantled and destroyed. “And therefore I do not see an Arab party that accepts my principles,” he said. He accused Netanyahu and Likud of misleading Israelis and strengthening Hamas. “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,” he said.

Inquiry and Election Disputes

Eisenkot also pledged to establish a State Commission of Inquiry into government failures on October 7 within 150 days of forming a new government. The article said the political echelon had repeatedly blocked the commission’s establishment, while Netanyahu had spoken against judicial appointments being part of the investigation.

Other parties aligned with Netanyahu's bloc challenged Eisenkot's record. People of Israel leader Ofer Winter said Eisenkot had supported containment and negotiated arrangements. Winter criticized Eisenkot’s call to stop the war before Israeli forces entered Rafah, and said he had appointed Yair Golan, Aharon Haliva, and Herzi Halevi and promoted doctrines Winter blamed for October 7.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Eisenkot had demanded a complete halt to the war, a full withdrawal from Gaza and the release of all terrorists in Israeli prisons. Ben-Gvir also said Eisenkot opposed taking Rafah, entering the Philadelphi Corridor and taking the security zone in Lebanon. Separately, Eisenkot vowed that a government led by him would pass a conscription law to draft haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, into the IDF.