Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot presented his selection of 40 candidates for his Knesset slate on Monday, as the party submitted its list at the Knesset ahead of the October elections.
"We will lead the way to victory in the elections and know how to act in every possible way toward the ultimate goal: bringing about a different government," Eisenkot told the crowd at the party's slate reveal event in Rosh Ha’ayin.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party has led most recent polls and is part of the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
Second on the party’s list is former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yoram Cohen.
Cohen was appointed head of the Shin Bet in 2011, a role he held for five years until 2016. He had previously served as deputy head of the agency and was involved in numerous operations and counterterrorism efforts.
Third on the party’s list is former minister and Blue and White MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, and fourth is Israel Prize winner and social entrepreneur Adi Altschuler, both of whom join the approximately 50% of the list that is female.
Fifth is former minister and Blue and White MK Matan Kahana, while sixth is Zionist Home chairman Chili Tropper. Tropper's addition came just one day prior, after he disbanded his merger with Reservists Party leader Yoaz Hendel, who did not join Eisenkot's slate.
Other names on the list include economist Shaul Meridor in seventh, former Labor Ministry director-general Tair Ifergan in eighth, Osherat Ganei Gonen in ninth, and Shira Shapira, the mother of murdered October 7 victim Aner Shapir in tenth.
List submitted ahead of deadline
The party submitted the list to the Central Elections Committee ahead of Tuesday's deadline, by which all parties must do so.
Yashar released the first 40 candidates on its list. Recent polls project the party to receive about 23 seats, making the first half of the list likely to enter the Knesset.
Eisenkot sharply cristized the government as he presented his slate, stating that "today, Israel is being led by a divisive leadership. A leadership that rewrites history."
"The words ‘personal example’ and ‘responsibility’ are foreign to it. The concepts of victory and national security are beyond its grasp. Its only vision is its own survival. And that is not leadership," he added.
The Yashar leader has pledged that in the next government he would establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 Hamas massacre.
"I say clearly tonight: Israel is fighting for its security and its most fundamental interests. The way Israel is being led today is dangerous. This is not a general warning; it is an immediate and tangible warning," Eisenkot added.
"We must wake up before it is too late. We must all choose differently, choose genuine security. Israel and Israelis need new leadership, unifying leadership," he said.
Aaron Glick contributed to this report.