Gadi Eisenkot honors son’s sacrifice on Memorial Day, calls for unity in Israel

Former Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot addressed his late son Gal as the Jewish state marked the annual Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism.

The 25-year-old IDF reservist Gal Eisenkot was killed in battle in Gaza on Dec. 7, 2023, exactly two months after the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of 251 people from southern Israel. 

“Today we will go to the cemetery, like far too many bereaved parents, families and friends in Israel, and the heart will freeze from the intensity of the longing and the sense of loss,” Eisenkot stated. 

“Our youngest son, Gal, was a straightforward and joyful person, diligent and a triathlete, a people person who embraced others, looked them in the eye and made a point of seeing deeply. He always set goals and achieved them. He loved to travel and to live. He dreamed of becoming a doctor or a scientist, and he was a loving and beloved son, brother, grandson, uncle and friend,” Eisenkot revealed. 

The former IDF chief revealed he was both proud and concerned when his son joined thousands of IDF reservist soldiers to defend Israel against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist militia that openly calls for Israel’s destruction and the murder of all Jews.

“On Oct. 7, he lost a close friend, and the abduction of members of our people shook him deeply. He reported for reserve duty that day. I drove him to the meeting point and watched him until he disappeared into the large crowd of his remarkable generation. As a father and as a commander in the IDF, I felt both pride and concern. He did not run to battle out of joy, but out of duty to his country and his people.” 

Eisenkot emphasized that despite the difficult loss of his son, he felt at the same time a responsibility to address the internal divisions in Israeli society. 

“After Gal fell, I had to decide how to cope. Naturally, there is a pull toward turning inward and dealing with grief privately. But there is also a deep inner voice that commands repair and rebuilding. At Gal’s grave, I vowed that the price he and his friends paid – those he knew and those he did not – would not be in vain. Since then, with each passing day, I have felt an increasing obligation to fulfill that calling,” Eisenkot said.

He has emerged as a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli government.

Eisenkot joined Israel's emergency government just days after Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks and served as a minister in the war cabinet as part of the Blue and White party. He later left the government amid political disagreements and subsequently departed from Blue and White as well in July 2025.

Last September, he established the new party Yashar – "straight" or "honest" in Hebrew – with the explicit goal of improving and changing Israeli society.

“We must take it upon ourselves to clear the noise, to look inward and forward, to imagine a different Israel – one whose leaders tell the truth, set a course and offer hope, the Israel we all remember and dream of. An equal Israel, mobilized, building, pioneering, united – brothers and sisters together,” Eisenkot wrote. 

“I love the State of Israel. I am proud of the State of Israel. Israel’s security and prosperity have been, and remain, my life’s mission. I am determined to carry out this mission under the imperative to be worthy of them. Together, we will act and succeed,” he concluded. 

Eisenkot’s party recently unveiled a plan to attract two million Jews to Israel by 2048, when the country celebrates its 100th anniversary as a reborn nation.