Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who briefly served as prime minister in 2022, have announced that they will run on a joint list in the next parliamentary elections.
“Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and I will announce today a first step in the process of restoring the State of Israel: the unification of the Yesh Atid party and the Bennett 2026 party into a unified party under the leadership of Naftali Bennett,” Yair Lapid announced via X.
Naftali Bennett, who belongs to the right, and Yair Lapid, who belongs to the center, had together formed a government in June 2021 that was succeeded by the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to opinion polls, Naftali Bennett appears to be the candidate with the best chance of defeating Netanyahu in elections scheduled for October 2026.
<p
“This initiative leads to the unification of the ‘change camp’ and allows us to concentrate all efforts to lead Israel to the necessary reparation,” says Yair Lapid.
The two men will hold a press conference later today.
The son of American immigrants, Naftali Bennett, 54, a former high-tech entrepreneur who sold his start-up in 2005 for $145 million, is making great use of his image as a former special forces officer in the Israeli army, a profile that secures him the support of a section of the youth, especially after two and a half years of war.
A former adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett has over the years become a fierce opponent of his former mentor’s policies.
He led several right-wing factions before forming a broadly acceptable government in 2021 with the support of an Arab party.
Yair Lapid, 62, is the son of journalist Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, and writer Sulamit Lapid.
A television feud journalist, he entered politics in 2012 by founding the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party and has imposed himself as Israel’s second most powerful political party.
