TEL AVIV: Israel’s former army chief Gadi Eisenkot said on Sunday that he is joining a new party headed by Defence Minister Benny Gantz ahead of a general election in November.
Recent media reports had said that Eisenkot, chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, was being courted by political parties including Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid.
But on Sunday Eisenkot announced he will join forces with Gantz, himself a former army chief, and Justice Minister Gideon Saar to form a new centre-right “National Unity Party”, or Hamahane Hamamlachti in Hebrew.
The election, set for November 1 after parliament was dissolved on June 30, will be the country’s fifth in less than four years.
There is a long-standing tradition in Israel for retired army chiefs to enter politics.
Gantz, Saar and Eisenkot “will run together in the upcoming elections under a list titled the National Unity party”, they said in a joint statement.
It said the new party would “form a base for a broad and stable government that will put an end to the ongoing political crisis”. –Agencies
