Transcript [00:02] Welcome to Waiting for 61, JTA's Israel [00:05] election podcast, where we break down [00:07] the fundamentals of Israel's 2026 [00:09] elections. The politics, the players, [00:12] and what's at stake as the country heads [00:13] [music] to the polls. I'm Ami Eden, CEO [00:16] of 70 Faces Media, the organization [00:19] behind the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. [00:21] >> And I'm Ruth Eglash, JTA senior Israel [00:24] correspondent. Today marks 13 days until [00:27] Israelis cast their votes. [00:29] >> Just our usual reminder before we get [00:32] started. Every [music] Friday, we're [00:33] going to be answering questions from our [00:35] listeners. So, if something sparks your [00:38] curiosity, or there's an aspect of [00:40] Israeli [music] politics you'd like us [00:41] to explain, send us your questions at [00:43] waitingfor61@jta.org. [00:47] Okay, let's get into it. Today, we're [00:49] going to focus in on Gadi Eizenkot, the [00:53] former IDF chief of staff, who is the [00:56] leader of the new party, Atid. Uh, let's [01:00] start with a a quick Hebrew lesson. Yesh [01:02] Atid means straight. And the reason this [01:04] matters is Yesh Atid has been either [01:08] leading in the polls or tied in the [01:10] polls with Netanyahu and Likud for a [01:13] while now. And so, you know, we're [01:15] really talking there's a [01:17] good chance we're talking about the next [01:18] prime minister of Israel. So, you know, [01:20] this isn't uh [01:21] an academic uh exercise in uh [01:24] personality or messaging analysis. Like, [01:27] the guy could become the next prime [01:28] minister. Um, so, what's that about? [01:32] Like, if you like uh Ruth, if somebody [01:34] said to you, you know, you have 60 [01:36] seconds to tell me about Gadi Eizenkot. [01:38] >> You don't need 60. Yesh Atid means [01:39] straight. I mean, I mean, I guess you [01:41] can say like, "Tell it to me straight." [01:44] He is talking about honesty and being [01:46] direct and not like messing people [01:48] around, not uh doing anything sneaky. [01:51] So, that's like really the name and [01:53] that's his image. His image is like he's [01:56] he's a ordinary guy. He's not going to [01:59] There's not going to be any drama with [02:00] him. He's gone through the war like [02:03] every other Israeli. He even lost a son [02:07] and a nephew in the war in Gaza. So, [02:10] he's just a straight-up guy and his [02:13] party is Yasha and he's not going to [02:15] bring with him any of the drama, any of [02:17] the divisiveness, any of the populism [02:21] that some of the other politicians have. [02:23] >> You just said the other politicians, but [02:25] I think to the people who are like I [02:26] think the people are like a little bit [02:28] plugged in [02:29] to this and they under you know, they [02:31] see the Yasha and straight and they [02:32] think about it [02:34] as playing into his kind of I'm the [02:36] anti-BB, right? It's not just BB. You [02:39] look at the other You look at several [02:41] the other people in different parties [02:43] and their maneuvering and there's we're [02:45] going to team up, we're not going to [02:46] team up, etc. So, it's It sounds like [02:48] what you're saying is it's not It's not [02:50] [clears throat] just distinguishing him. [02:51] It's I'm the opposite of Netanyahu, but [02:54] in many ways it's also the opposite of [02:56] some of the other Israeli politicians in [02:58] his own camp. [02:59] >> Yeah, I I mean I also like you know, on [03:01] the one hand he's a newcomer to the [03:02] scene. He doesn't have that political [03:05] background or the political stains that [03:07] other politicians have. It also kind of [03:10] makes him naive a little bit or maybe [03:12] he's [03:13] you know, he's not like a dirty player [03:15] or nothing's been pinned on him yet. [03:17] >> You could have a very straight, [03:18] no-nonsense guy who's very uptight and [03:22] rigid, but it seems like it's he's a [03:24] he's trustworthy. That's the image he [03:27] wants out there, but also [03:29] more relaxed if that's the right word, [03:31] more mellow. [03:32] >> He's not like this hugely charismatic [03:34] figure. I mean, let's be honest. He's [03:36] kind of softly spoken. He's got a little [03:38] smile on his face. You know, he's not [03:40] like in your face. He's not like angry. [03:42] He's not like getting people wound up. I [03:44] interviewed him one time a very long [03:46] time ago when he was chief of staff and [03:48] even in a small room in a small setting, [03:50] he was very gentle and he was sweet and [03:53] he was kind of, you know, welcoming and [03:56] he wasn't like he he wasn't doing [03:58] anything that was trying to impress [03:59] anybody. [04:00] >> I like to say like Israeli politicians, [04:02] usually I refer to them as, you know, [04:04] instead of alpha males, olive males, you [04:06] know, it's the it's the Hebrew [04:07] translation. So, whether I mean whether [04:09] you look at Bibi or then in the [04:11] opposition you have Lieberman or [04:14] Bennett, Lapid, they're all very olive [04:20] male. You know, like they're all very [04:22] assertive and like they're going to tell [04:25] you like it is and they're going to have [04:26] a, [04:27] you know, whatever. And he, right, he [04:28] definitely gives off a different vibe. [04:30] >> I think a lot of people saying they're [04:31] ready to have someone who's who's just [04:33] not going to [04:35] like make headlines. When I was a [04:37] correspondent for the Washington Post, I [04:39] mean there was one certain thing, if you [04:41] had Netanyahu in a headline, it was [04:43] going to get a lot of hits on the [04:45] website. But with Eisenkot, like no one [04:47] knows him, people don't know him outside [04:49] of Israel, he doesn't make waves, he [04:51] doesn't like come to New York and and [04:53] take a dig at the mayor and like he's [04:55] just not, you know, he he's kind of [04:57] boring and like I mean maybe that's what [04:59] Israelis need at this point, someone [05:01] who's just not going to make any [05:04] do anything crazy, not going to upset [05:06] anyone and just going to like get on and [05:08] do some some of the serious work that [05:10] needs to be done, putting the country [05:11] back together after 3 years of war. [05:13] >> What's super interesting to me on its [05:15] face and then the lack of seeming like a [05:17] conversation about it, which is even [05:19] more interesting to me, [05:20] is that, you know, he is the child of [05:22] Moroccan immigrants. [05:24] And if he wins, he will be Israel's [05:27] first Mizrahi prime minister. And for [05:30] for people who don't know that term, [05:32] Mizrahi is really a term we use to [05:34] describe Jews who basically are coming [05:37] from either North Africa [05:40] or other parts of the Middle East, [05:41] Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran, to name a few. [05:45] And after the country's founded, you [05:48] started to have a massive, you know, [05:50] hundreds and hundreds of thousands of [05:52] people who came from different countries [05:54] in in in those areas. [05:56] And yet, we've never had, you know, [05:58] there's never been a Mizrahi prime [06:01] minister. [06:02] And I feel like, at least from where I'm [06:05] sitting, [06:06] there's almost zero about that. Like, [06:08] it's not It doesn't seem like something [06:10] that's being played up by him or, you [06:14] know, his champions. And I'm just [06:16] thinking like, in America, [06:17] you know, [06:19] even though Barack Obama didn't make [06:21] it central to his campaign, but he [06:23] didn't need to, right? Because everybody [06:25] was talking about how if Barack Obama [06:28] won, he'd be the first black president. [06:32] >> I mean, it No, it it hasn't been [06:34] discussed. I mean, I don't think it's [06:35] even I haven't heard it being raised by [06:37] anyone. But, I'm just I'm curious like [06:39] from like from your perspective as an [06:41] American, do you Do you Do you see um [06:44] like Mizrahi Jews, Eastern Jews, or [06:46] Sephardi Jews as being like akin to uh [06:49] African Americans like in in that sense? [06:52] Because that's what you're comparing it [06:54] to. And [06:54] >> That's a That's a fair point. Let me [06:56] level set that a little bit. Like, [06:58] right, in America, you had a population [07:00] of people from Africa who were enslaved, [07:03] uh and and then suffered after they were [07:06] emancipated, still lived under an [07:09] apartheid regime in the South for a [07:12] hundred years. So, yes, I don't think I [07:14] wouldn't compare it the situation of [07:17] Mizrahi Jews in Israel to those tragic [07:20] situations but [07:22] I think it's fair to say that different [07:25] Mizrahi populations, when they came to [07:27] Israel, certainly felt like they endured [07:30] a large amount of discrimination, and [07:33] you can push back if I'm wrong, that [07:35] resentment that many Mizrahim carried [07:39] from, you know, the labor-led [07:41] governments in the '40s, the late '40s, [07:44] and '50s, and '60s, and early '70s, [07:47] certainly has translated to high levels [07:50] of Mizrahi support for Likud that seems [07:54] has been pretty unshakable and has [07:56] arguably been been the defining [07:59] enduring aspect of Israeli democracy and [08:03] voting patterns, right? Over the last [08:04] several decades has been Likud's very [08:08] loyal Mizrahi followers who have really [08:11] made Begin prime minister and why Like [08:14] if you say, "How has Netanyahu been [08:16] prime minister for so long?" A large [08:18] thing is his like dependable core of [08:20] Mizrahi voters. [08:21] >> You're answering your own question in a [08:22] way because you're you're pointing out [08:24] the irony that Likud is the party for [08:27] maybe [08:29] uh what which has a big base of Mizrahi [08:32] Israelis or Mizrahi Jews. Um and they [08:34] are very loyal to Netanyahu even though [08:36] he is more Ashkenazi than me. [08:39] >> Yeah. [08:39] >> You know, so they're very, very [08:41] supportive of Netanyahu. But it's not I [08:43] mean, I I think it just boils down to [08:45] the fact that that Israeli society has [08:48] become such a melting pot. I know that's [08:51] cliché to say, but there's so many um [08:54] people who are married as there's not a [08:57] big division. There's not like this [08:59] division against marriage between [09:01] Sephardis and Ashkenazis. [09:03] >> But I'm not even seeing like a Oh, isn't [09:05] it wonderful? Like it's it just doesn't [09:07] seem like Like do you think do you do [09:09] you think there's going to be Do you [09:10] think there's going to be any sort of [09:11] solidarity [09:13] kind of solid Do you think there're [09:14] going to be Mizrahim on the fence? [09:16] >> No, I think people vote according to [09:18] their issues. They don't vote according [09:20] to their backgrounds. I mean, they just [09:23] don't do that. I mean, maybe in the [09:25] founding decades of the state of Israel [09:27] when the Labor Party was like very [09:30] dominant and they controlled all the [09:32] institutions and the Mizrahim felt that [09:35] they were discriminated against by the [09:38] Ashkenazim and they weren't allowed into [09:39] certain [09:40] positions or they weren't able to [09:43] succeed in politics or they were living [09:45] in areas of Israel that were very [09:48] low socioeconomic areas and they [09:50] couldn't progress. So, maybe then, but [09:52] today Israel is a very affluent society. [09:55] There's a big middle class. There's a [09:57] lot of intermarriage between Ashkenazim [09:59] and Sephardim or Ashkenazim and [10:01] Mizrahim. And also we're we're talking [10:03] about a country that's just gone through [10:05] 3 years of war, that has economic [10:08] problems, that has security problems, [10:11] that has social problems. So, those are [10:14] the issues that people are thinking [10:15] about. Like, I I haven't heard and maybe [10:18] there are a few people saying, "I'm [10:20] going to vote for Gadi Eisenkot cuz he's [10:21] Moroccan." Like, I haven't heard people [10:24] say that. [10:24] >> I'm fascinated to see how it plays [10:27] outside of Israel. [10:28] >> I think that's the question for for for [10:30] you Ami. [10:31] >> I think most American Jews, and I'm sure [10:34] most Americans do not understand that [10:38] 50% or more of the Jewish population in [10:42] Israel either came from or are directly [10:45] descended from Jews from North Africa or [10:49] the Middle East. And I think it's so [10:51] fascinating given the tenor, you know, [10:53] when you talk about colonizing and [10:57] Israel is an occupier, I think all of [10:59] that is rooted in the image of Israel [11:01] and Zionism being a European project. I [11:04] think for many decades, that [11:06] misunderstanding about Israel's [11:09] population [11:11] was to Israel's benefit in America. [11:13] Meaning, in the '60s, '70s, '80s, I [11:17] think that a lot the fact that a lot of [11:19] Americans thought of Israel as like the [11:21] white country in the Middle East or the [11:23] European country in the Middle East, [11:25] especially in the context of the Cold [11:26] War, etc., was actually not such a [11:30] terrible misunderstanding for Israel's [11:32] stature in the US. Ironically, I think [11:34] it's totally flipped now, right? Israel [11:36] would have been much better off, I [11:38] think, over the last 20 years, if if [11:41] then if the understanding of Israel [11:44] was that a huge portion of its [11:46] population is essentially endemic to [11:48] North Africa and the Middle East. [11:50] And that it's not a country made up of [11:54] European Jews who came over. [11:56] >> You know, I what I'm curious about and [11:58] and you know, maybe maybe listeners [12:00] want to write to us and tell us because [12:02] I'm very curious to know, you know, we I [12:04] think, you know, Netanyahu has been in [12:06] power more or less for the last 20 [12:07] years. The world has got used to having [12:10] this, you know, American accented, very [12:13] articulate leader of Israel coming to [12:15] the UN and speaking or going to [12:17] different events or making statements, [12:20] going on Fox News and CBS and ABC and [12:23] and and speaking for Israel. And they're [12:26] going to have to get used to now, [12:28] you know, this guy who very quiet guy, [12:31] who doesn't speak English. And not only [12:33] doesn't speak English, but he doesn't [12:35] It's like he doesn't really have a maybe [12:37] doesn't even have a concept of of [12:39] American Jewry or or of of of [12:43] international diplomacy. Like those are [12:45] not his strong points. I mean, I know [12:46] his tasks are in Israel, but you have a [12:49] Israel could be ending up with a prime [12:51] minister [12:52] who has [12:54] really no experience in that world at [12:56] all and maybe not even any interest in [12:58] that world at all and definitely [13:00] >> He'll have to get some quick. [13:02] >> [laughter] [13:04] >> I think we're in an atmosphere right now [13:05] in America where [13:08] for a huge percentage of the country at [13:10] this point, having a prime minister [13:12] who's so outspoken and so like [13:15] willing to be in your face and and tell [13:18] you why Israel is right in everything [13:21] it's doing. I'm not sure that's actually [13:23] helping right now in the great You can [13:25] imagine having a prime minister who's [13:27] just like keeping a low profile and and [13:30] turning down you know just not adding [13:34] you know flame to the gasoline. I could [13:35] see where that [13:37] could actually be helpful to Israel. But [13:39] I [13:40] also on the thinking about the American [13:42] Jewish community, I think it can be very [13:45] helpful and inspiring if you have [13:48] a prime minister who you feel like [13:50] you're hearing you're understanding the [13:52] rallying that you know the rallying. So [13:54] I I'm trying to imagine what it look [13:56] like what happens who else fills those [13:58] gaps. [13:59] And so I'm having trouble just picturing [14:01] like how it will work. Like who will [14:02] become cuz somebody will have to fill [14:04] those gaps and and and who will it be? I [14:06] I it it depends on the government etc. [14:09] So like they're probably like what will [14:11] it be like? Who will be the voices that [14:13] might speak to pro-Israel Jews in [14:16] America and you know give them something [14:19] to feel good about. Okay, that's so [14:22] that's it for today. [14:23] Thank you to our producer Myra Rackliff. [14:26] Please make sure to join us tomorrow for [14:27] the next episode of waiting for 61. And [14:30] don't forget to send your questions into [14:32] waiting for 61@jta.org. [14:42] >> [music]
