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Former Israeli Premiers Join in Bid to Oust Netanyahu in Elections
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing politician, and Yair Lapid, a centrist, will merge parties for a vote later this year.
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Naftali Bennett, left, and Yair Lapid on Sunday in Herzliya, Israel, where they said they would unite in a party to be called Yachad, Hebrew for “together.”
Credit...
Ariel Schalit/Associated Press
By
Isabel Kershner
Reporting from Jerusalem
April 26, 2026
Updated
3:51 p.m. ET
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The centrist leader of Israel’s opposition, Yair Lapid, and a right-wing former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, announced on Sunday that they would combine forces in elections later this year. The merger is an apparent bid to reconstitute a partnership that temporarily unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu five years ago.
Mr. Bennett and Mr. Lapid said their two parties, Bennett 2026 and Yesh Atid, would unite into a party to be called Yachad, Hebrew for “together,” under Mr. Bennett’s leadership.
They described the move as “the first step in the process of uniting and repairing the state of Israel.”
In a joint news conference broadcast live on Sunday evening, the pair presented their political and ideological differences as an advantage and an example for a deeply fractured nation.
“The unity we share is a message to all the people of Israel,” Mr. Bennett said, adding, “The era of polarization is over.”
Mr. Lapid described Mr. Bennett as “a man of the right, but a man of the liberal, decent, law-abiding right.”
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