Gadi Eisenkot Unveils 'Honor Roll' for Knesset List, Featuring Hostage Survivor and Former Ministers

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the "Yashar!" party, has revealed the "honor roll" of candidates who will fill the final ten spots (110-120) on his party's list for the 26th Knesset. At the very end of the list, in the 120th position, is Ohad Ben Ami from Kibbutz Be'eri, who was held captive by Hamas for 491 days. He was abducted along with his wife Raz on October 7.

Other symbolic positions on the list include parents of female observers kidnapped on October 7, widows of IDF soldiers, and prominent figures from Israel's security and political spheres. Among them are the parents of observer Noa Marciano, the father of observer Naama Levy, and the widow of Colonel Assaf Hamami, who was killed on October 7 and whose body was taken to Gaza. Also featured is the widow of Brigadier General Erez Gerstein, who was killed in Lebanon in 1999.

Eisenkot has also enlisted retired Major General Gideon Sheffer, a fighter pilot and former POW from the Yom Kippur War, and retired Colonel Gideon Abbas, a senior officer from the Druze community whose grandson was killed in the recent war. Rounding out the list are veteran public figures: Adina Bar-Shalom, daughter of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and a recipient of the Israel Prize; Professor Manuel Trachtenberg, former head of the National Economic Council; and former minister Dan Meridor, whose son Shaul Meridor is placed higher on the party's list.

The party aims to leverage these symbolic appointments to highlight its campaign's central messages: investigating the failures leading up to October 7, healing societal divisions, and restoring national values to leadership. Eisenkot stated that these individuals "represent the Israeli spirit and the need to mend the country after difficult years," including those who bore the security burden and families who fought for their loved ones against the system.