Gadi Eisenkot, the former IDF chief of staff, announced Sunday he is joining the party lead by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar ahead of November 1 elections.
The new party, dubbed "The State Camp," merges between the centrist Blue & White and center-right New Hope factions, led by Gantz and Sa'ar, respectively.
On Saturday evening, an agreement was signed between Gantz, Sa'ar and Eisenkot, according to which, after the elections, the newly-formed alliance will hold party primaries ahead of the elections for the 26th Knesset.
Eisenkot, placed number three in the party's elections slate, asked for former Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana to be placed ninth on the list, after Kahana recently exited the Yamina party.
As part of the agreement, the three-way alliance decided to ditch the previous names of their parties, and released a statement saying, "The State Camp is underway".
"This union will serve as the basis for the establishment of a broad and stable state government that will bring an end to the ongoing political crisis, mend the rift between parts of Israeli society, and promote the national interests of the State of Israel in security, the economy, domestic security, and education."
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Gadi Eisenkot, right, replaced Benny Gantz as IDF chief of staff
(Photo: Defense Ministry)
Eisenkot and Gantz have met several times throughout the last year, and the former said the connection with the latter and Sa'ar was "natural and close".
Eisenkot served as IDF's 21st chief of general staff, from 2015 to 2019. Since his retirement, there have been rumors of him joining politics, with many political parties, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party and the Labor Party, trying to entice the 62-year-old to join them.
After his announcement of joining Gantz and Sa'ar, Lapid congratulated the ex-IDF chief on his decision to enter politics.
"I congratulated him on joining politics. He is a good, wise and valued person, and I have no doubt that he will contribute greatly to the life of the public," he wrote on his Twitter account.