Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar! Party, unveiled a plan he says would bring two million olim (new immigrants) to Israel by 2048 – the country’s 100th anniversary – by cutting bureaucracy and expanding incentives for both olim and returning residents.
The plan, said to be developed by a team of experts from both the hi-tech sector and academia, aims to address the needs of olim and returning residents in multiple areas of life.
Eisenkot’s party has been gaining support in recent polls, rising as a top competitor within the opposition bloc challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party ahead of elections expected no later than October.
The Yashar! Party presented the plan to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, which focuses on two main tracks: improving conditions for olim already in Israel and creating incentives for those abroad to encourage them to make aliyah.
A central component of the proposal is said to “end the bureaucracy” faced by olim, through the creation of a family “one-stop shop” where services such as licensing, employment assistance, and community integration could all be provided in one location.
The plan also calls for a fast-track absorption program for olim, with an emphasis on employment, housing, education, and healthcare. Housing solutions would focus on providing olim with strategic areas and designated communities.
Additional measures include accelerated education tracks for the children of olim through enabling their immediate integration into the school system with language support, as well as the creation of an “employment safety net” to provide financial assistance and job placement during the first years after olim arrive in the country.
Incentives for new olim
The second component of the plan, called “Coming Home,” focuses on incentives for those living abroad to make aliyah. It proposes tax adjustments and targeted long-term benefits to those who choose to move to Israel. It also calls for efforts to accelerate the recognition of academic degrees and professional licenses from abroad.
The plan includes a program for returning academics, calling to expand opportunities for them in higher education and research through targeted incentives, research grants, and professional collaborations. Housing incentives for olim would be developed in cooperation with the state and local authorities.
When speaking about the initiative, Eisenkot said he preferred to focus on optimism and efforts to increase aliyah, rather than on those who want to leave the country due to the current government.
“A political campaigner might advise me to say that fear motivates people – that if this government is re-elected, hundreds of thousands of young people will leave, but I don’t want to say that,” he said.
“I want to focus on the positive and say what we can do. If we create the right atmosphere and hope, hundreds of thousands of Israelis will return.”
“I’m certain of it. Every oleh will be welcomed and will make a strategic contribution for generations to come,” he added.
Eisenkot previously served as second-in-command in the Blue and White Party led by MK Benny Gantz before leaving the party in June 2025 and resigning from the Knesset. He established the Yashar! Party in September 2025 ahead of the upcoming elections.
In recent polls, Yashar! has come behind former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party, which has been trailing Netanyahu’s Likud. Both Eisenkot and Bennett are part of the opposition bloc seeking to replace the current government.
Though Bennett offered to unite the parties, Eisenkot responded last month that he had refused because he did not want to serve as second-in-command.
“I believe in myself, I know the kind of leadership I bring, and I see myself as a very strong candidate,” Eisenkot had said in a Channel 12 interview.
“I didn’t leave Benny Gantz as a number two just to become Naftali Bennett’s number two,” he added.
Eisenkot has been in contact with other opposition parties about uniting, including Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid.
He has also sharply criticized the government’s advancement of the controversial haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft legislation, calling for universal conscription.
During the war following the October 7 Hamas attacks, his son, Master Sgt. Gal Eisenkot, 25, fell in combat in December 2023 in the northern Gaza Strip.
Since then, Esienkot has said that the loss of his son has pushed him to take action to better the country. He has also called for a state commission of inquiry to be conducted to investigate government failures on October 7.