Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday shared an AI-generated campaign ad depicting rival Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot rejecting an embrace from a young man with a T-shirt proclaiming “Israeli unity,” in favor of Mansour Abbas of the Arab party Ra’am.

The clip then displays the message: “Eisenkot has no government without [Democrats party chair] Yair Golan and the Arab parties.”

The ad was met with anger, and some critics, such as journalists Guy Peleg and Barak Seri, who said the young man was heavily implied to be a stand-in for Eisenkot’s son Gal, who was killed fighting in the Gaza war.

Though the man does not unequivocally resemble Gal Eisenkot, he appears approximately the same age, and the location chosen — a blissful field of flowers — was seen by detractors as implying a heavenly setting.

Eisenkot’s son was killed while serving in Gaza in December 2023. In addition, two of the ex-general’s nephews were killed during the war.

The Yashar chairman is widely seen as Netanyahu’s chief challenger in the October 27 election, with recent polls placing his Yashar party ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest in the Knesset if elections were held today.

גדי, זה לא ישר pic.twitter.com/awy47dINmq — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 20, 2026

גדי, זה לא ישר pic.twitter.com/awy47dINmq

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 20, 2026

Responding to criticism of the ad, Likud denied that the figure in the video was intended to resemble Eisenkot’s son.

“The attempt by extremist elements to draw such a shocking comparison is merely an effort to conceal the simple fact that Gadi has no government without Yair Golan and the Arab parties,” the party said.

Later, Netanyahu’s embattled aide Jonatan Urich posted a new version of the ad, in which the “Israeli unity” shirt was worn by a woman instead.

“To remove any doubt,” he wrote in the post.

Yashar shares supercut of Likud praise of Abbas

In an apparent response to the ad, Yashar published a supercut of Netanyahu’s own political faction allying with Mansour Abbas over the years, featuring several politicians who are now ministers in the government praising the Ra’am chairman.

The clip featured now-Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli saying he was “very impressed by the very moderate line........

© The Times of Israel