Eisenkot Faces First-Round Loss Over Arab Parties Issue

i24NEWS host Eliraz Sadeh weighed in on the upcoming election campaign, focusing on the main challenger to Prime Minister Netanyahu, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot.

"Prediction: If Eisenkot continues not to rule out the Arab parties, he will lose in the first round for the first time in his life," Sadeh said.

The comment comes as Likud launched a sharp attack against Eisenkot's Yesh! party, calling on the opposition to cancel its agreement with The Democrats.

The dispute between the parties centers on a controversial documentary film by two Israeli creators that sparked fierce public outcry in Israel over its portrayal of IDF operations in Gaza and its claims about Israel's conduct during the war.

Although most Israelis condemned the filmmakers, two prominent candidates on The Democrats' slate chose to focus their criticism on Israel's response to the film.

Gabi Lasky, number six on the list, argued that the discourse against the filmmakers had become violent and called for protecting the ability to raise moral questions even during wartime.

"The violent discourse against the creators must stop," Lasky wrote, adding that these are "works that raise ethical questions that must be asked precisely out of pain."

According to her, "It's easiest to justify harm to human rights during war, and therefore there is also an obligation to ask questions and set boundaries. That is the essence of democracy."

Moshe Radman, number nine on The Democrats' list, also addressed the criticism of the film.

"The public atmosphere, the sensationalist media, the lack of human rights education, the despicable leadership, the weak opposition — all these are classic circumstances for confusion and loss of direction," he said.

"I don't know if the film is truly fair and faithful to the source," he wrote. Nevertheless, he concluded that "it's good there's discourse, it's good there's criticism," and even lashed out at what he called "the fascist populists."