Story perspectives

AI Video Attacks Eisenkot; Netanyahu Pushes Unity, Trump Cautions

6/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

Likud posted an AI video linking former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot to Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi, casting him as dependent on Arab parties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a national unity government, although opposition leaders Yair Golan, Yair Lapid and Eisenkot rejected it.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party, polling at about 21 seats, prompted President Donald Trump to warn Netanyahu to halt the Lebanon offensive to safeguard U.S.–Israel ties.

History

Historical Context

In the 1977 Israeli election—dubbed “the upheaval”—Menachem Begin’s Likud won 43 Knesset seats with about 35 % of the vote, ending three decades of Labor rule and forcing a coalition with the National Religious Party and Agudat Yisrael. That precedent of right-wing coalition-building underpins today’s AI-driven video targeting former chief Gadi Eisenkot.

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Story summary

Likud posted an AI video linking former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot to Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi, casting him as dependent on Arab parties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a national unity government, although opposition leaders Yair Golan, Yair Lapid and Eisenkot rejected it.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party, polling at about 21 seats, prompted President Donald Trump to warn Netanyahu to halt the Lebanon offensive to safeguard U.S.–Israel ties.

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