Bennett and Lapid join together to challenge Netanyahu

Former Israeli prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid have announced they will contest the next Knesset election on a joint ticket led by Bennett under the name “Yachad” (“Together” in English).

The pair made the announcement during a joint public appearance in central Israel on Sunday.

Israeli law requires the election to be held by 27 October 2026 at the latest, although the Knesset can bring the vote forward if it dissolves or the government collapses.

In a joint statement, the two leaders described the move as the first stage in repairing the state of Israel. They plan to combine Lapid’s Yesh Atid party with Bennett’s newly formed Bennett 2026 party into a single electoral list headed by Bennett.

Israeli media outlets have reported the development as either a full party merger or a unified election list. Either way, the goal is to offer voters one consolidated option rather than competing separate tickets.

The alliance builds on months of speculation about closer ties between the pair, who previously worked together in the broad anti-Netanyahu coalition government of 2021–22. During that period Bennett served as prime minister from June 2021 until June 2022, after which Lapid was due to take over under a rotation agreement.

The diverse coalition, which included right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, lost its majority and fell apart. Lapid then acted as caretaker prime minister until the November 2022 election returned Benjamin Netanyahu to power.

Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held office for a total of more than 16 years across multiple terms since 1996, including a continuous stretch from 2009 to 2021 before returning to power in late 2022. His tenure has been marked by ongoing corruption trials on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, as well as deep political divisions over judicial reforms, relations with the Palestinians and the conduct of recent wars.

Political observers view the new partnership as an effort to bring together centre and centre-right opposition voters ahead of the next poll. Fragmentation among anti-Netanyahu parties has weakened their position in recent years. Recent opinion polls suggest a Bennett-led unified list could help concentrate votes that might otherwise be split across several smaller groups.

Bennett has stayed out of electoral politics since 2022 but has recently indicated he is ready to return, positioning himself as someone who can attract both right-leaning and centrist support. Lapid, whose Yesh Atid was the largest opposition party after the 2022 vote, is expected to take on a senior position in the new alliance.

Israel’s proportional representation system frequently leads to a fragmented Knesset, which makes pre-election alliances an important tactic for parties hoping to build or influence a governing coalition.

The announcement comes at a time of ongoing political strain in Israel, with deep divisions over security matters, judicial issues and the wider regional conflict all likely to dominate the 2026 campaign.