Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, ex-chief of the military Gadi Eisenkot, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid are holding contacts on the potential formation of a new joint party called “New Israel,” Channel 12 news reported.
According to the unsourced report, representatives for the three men are discussing a merger ahead of the upcoming elections, set for October, hoping to present a united front against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
One idea being discussed, the report said, is to hold primaries in 15 locations nationwide to determine who should lead the merged list in the general election. The merger and primary proposal were put to respondents in a recent poll conducted by one of the parties, the report said.
Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar! party and is a former IDF chief of staff, was first reported to have proposed a merger in January with Bennett and Lapid, both of whom have courted the former IDF commander for their own parties.
Yashar! and Bennett 2026 have consistently polled in recent months as the strongest parties in the opposition bloc, with surveys showing they would be the largest factions after Netanyahu’s Likud. Each would secure 16 seats if elections were held now, according to a recent survey by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
In contrast, Lapid’s Yesh Atid — currently the largest opposition party and the second-largest Knesset faction with 24 seats — would drop to just five seats, according to the survey, just one above the minimum that parties must win in order to enter parliament.
However, if Eisenkot, Lapid and Bennett ran together, their combined ticket would get 38 seats, making it the largest faction in the Knesset, though it would not significantly change the respective sizes of the two main rival blocs, the poll found.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026. (Shalev Shalom/POOL)
The poll put the current coalition at 51 seats in total, while the Zionist opposition would receive 60 and the Arab-majority parties 9. Neither side would be able to assemble a 61-strong majority and form a government without Arab-party support.
Bennett and Lapid formed a short-lived government in 2021 by signing up Ra’am, an Arab Islamist party, to join the coalition.
Last year, Bennett said he would not bring Arab parties into the next government if faced with the choice.
Sam Sokol and Tal Schneider contributed to this report.
You appreciate our wartime journalism
You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel