Their trustworthiness: Netanyahu's credibility with the Israeli public has been battered by his long-running corruption trial, his political tactics, his refusal to take responsibility for the failures that led to October 7 and accusations of duplicity in his handling of the Iran war.
Eisenkot is seen as a straight shooter, even among many of his opponents.
Zoom in: The failure to prevent the October 7 attacks spurred Eisenkot to challenge Netanyahu.
Eisenkot, who joined N'etanyahu's emergency cabinet shortly after the attacks, lost his son during the war. He later lost two of his nephews in the war.
Zoom out: Netanyahu has cultivated a vast network of donors, lobbyists and supporters in American power corridors for the past half-century. Bibi is a household name in America " for better and worse.
Eisenkot, on the other hand, is almost anonymous in Washington. Very few people know him personally, even within Jewish organizations.
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"The numbers: Eisenkot is leading Netanyahu by 8 to 10 points in most pre-election polls.
While Netanyahu is toxic among at least half of the voters, polls show Eisenkot enjoys high likability across the board.
Netanyahu's efforts to publicly vilify him have been so far unsuccessful.
The big picture:
Eisenkot ran on a center-right platform. He did not make any sweeping foreign policy pronouncements and took pains to steer clear of any public positions that would allow Netanyahu to paint him as weak. Bibi tried to do it, anyway.
Eisenkot has expressed opposition to a Palestinian state under current conditions. He has committed to taking strong steps to crack down on Jewish terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank.
He also pledged to end Hamas' control of Gaza within 18 months of taking office, either through diplomacy or military force.
Eisenkot supported the war against Iran and strikes on its nuclear facilities. But he opposed Netanyahu's attempt to use military power to force regime change, calling it unrealistic.
Eisenkot supports continuing economic pressure on Iran and building a regional alliance with the Arab world to curb Iranian influence."
much more at the Link
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@#18 ... I moved to the Netherlands about 3 months ago ...
In a prior job, I used to visit The Netherlands once a quarter for a full week.
The first, and hugely major thing that became apparent to me was the friendliness of the people in The Netherlands. Even when I went out into the non-tourist more rural areas of the country.
But the great folk of The Netherlands have been traders of the world for centuries, so while that demeanor was not a surprise to me, I nevertheless acknowledge it.
I hope your experiences living there reflect my experiences visiting there.