A joint run with Bennett, who has consistently polled as one of the two strongest parties in the opposition bloc alongside Eisenkot, would allow Lapid to improve his projected seat share and shore up his political position.<\/p>\n
However, Pollster Mitchell Barak of Keevoon Research Strategy & Communications said Bennett needed the merger as much as Lapid.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople underestimated Lapid up until now and put too much credit in the polls,\u201d he said, adding that the Yesh Atid leader \u201chas been around for a long time and was the one who put together the last government. A lot of people would have come back to Lapid had he stuck around on his own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bennett, Barak argued, had no choice but to enter the merger, primarily due to mounting competition from Eisenkot, whose security credentials have reshaped the political battlefield on the center-right, and in many recent polls has been neck-and-neck with or even overtaking Bennett.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cOnce Eisenkot entered the race, Bennett had to give up his dream of getting those right-of-center security voters. Bennett wasn\u2019t saying or doing anything for the past year, and yet trying to convince people that he could get voters from the right and the left by being in the center and doing nothing,\u201d Barak argued, adding that voters prioritizing security and military experience were increasingly gravitating toward Eisenkot.<\/p>\n \u201cBennett had no choice but to break center and leave, which means going with Lapid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The former prime minister stands to benefit in several ways from the union, including from Yesh Atid\u2019s significantly greater state funding, tied in part to the number of parliamentary seats a party currently holds \u2014 a system that makes it inherently more difficult for newer parties to compete.<\/p>\n \u201cBennett\u2019s party would have received from the state about NIS 11 million ($3.68 million), but Lapid will get about NIS 27 million ($9 million) because he has 24 seats in the Knesset,\u201d Shapira said.<\/p>\n The union cements Bennett\u2019s shift toward the political center and is consistent with several moves he has made in recent months to broaden his appeal<\/a>, including adding former government technocrats and reservists critical of the Netanyahu government to its slate, and earlier this week voicing support for public transportation on Shabbat and civil marriage.<\/p>\n Shifting the balance of power, or merely redistributing opposition votes?<\/p>\n The central question is now whether the merger materially strengthens the opposition bloc\u2019s chances of unseating Netanyahu.<\/p>\n Recent polling had suggested that if Eisenkot, Lapid and Bennett ran together<\/a>, their combined ticket would get 38 seats, making it the largest faction in the Knesset, but also that it would not significantly change the respective sizes of the two main rival blocs.<\/p>\n Shapira argued that just the impression that the opposition bloc is \u201cmore coordinated, more united, and a more serious threat than they have been until now,\u201d could generate renewed energy among voters, including those who might otherwise stay home. Large parties also tend to animate turnout, he noted, and if Eisenkot were to join the alliance, that effect could intensify.<\/p>\n \t Still, it remains unclear whether such enthusiasm would meaningfully shift the balance of power or simply redistribute votes within the opposition camp, which is precisely how the coalition appears to view the development.<\/p>\n A coalition source told The Times of Israel that the government sees the merger as little more than a reshuffling of voters within the same ideological bloc rather than a substantive threat to its rule, echoing a post on X by Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo: \u201cWe don\u2019t interfere with how the left divides its votes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have a more united front against Netanyahu and definitely will have some momentum,\u201d said Barak of the merger, \u201cbut I think this helps Netanyahu because it defines who he\u2019s running against. I don\u2019t think he sees them as very serious contenders.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eisenkot factor<\/p>\n The biggest remaining variable for the opposition bloc, and something that wasn\u2019t a factor the last time Lapid and Bennett tried to form a government, is Eisenkot and whether he joins the \u201cTogether\u201d slate or continues his run alone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be very natural for Eisenkot to join them,\u201d Shapira said, arguing that his addition to the slate would generate additional enthusiasm and attract voters that Bennett and Lapid struggle to reach on their own.<\/p>\n Eisenkot\u2019s military credentials as a former IDF chief of staff, combined with his personal story as a bereaved father whose son, Gal, was killed fighting in the Gaza war, have given him credibility and sympathy among right-leaning voters, including some within Likud, which Bennett lost after he formed a government that included the Arab-majority party Ra\u2019am and left-wing parties.<\/p>\n \t At the same time, Shapira cautioned that Eisenkot\u2019s joining the merger is not necessarily to the bloc\u2019s advantage, as he may be able to draw right-wing voters more effectively by running solo, since some of his supporters may be reluctant to cast ballots for a slate that includes Lapid.<\/p>\n \u201cLapid is considered centrist, if not center-left, by right-wing Likud voters, and even if Bennett claims that he is right-wing, he has no sympathy on the right after establishing the previous government,\u201d Shapira said.<\/p>\n Barak agreed, arguing that Eisenkot\u2019s political strength lies precisely in his ability to occupy a distinct electoral lane that could be diluted within a joint slate. Eisenkot\u2019s leverage, he suggested, depends on maintaining that independent identity and positioning himself as the natural alternative leader within the opposition camp.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Eisenkot would add a lot to the slate,\u201d Barak said, but posited that joining such an alliance would harm his own prospects and not actually increase the bloc\u2019s chances of winning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be wise for him to stay on his own and say, \u2018I\u2019m the leader here. I\u2019m the one who can most likely get elected,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Efforts to bring the three leaders together have been ongoing for months. Eisenkot was reported to have proposed a merger with Bennett and Lapid in January, and Channel 12 reported last week that the three had held talks on forming a new joint party, tentatively dubbed \u201cNew Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n \t There is still room for Eisenkot to join the unified slate \u2014 both Bennett and Lapid made that clear at their Sunday evening press conference \u2014 and a three-way alliance could prove \u201cgreater than the sum of its parts,\u201d one opposition source told The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n Shapira suggested that leadership ambitions may have been one of the main obstacles to an earlier deal.<\/p>\n \u201cMy guess is that [Eisenkot] wants to lead the slate and Bennett has proven repeatedly that he\u2019s not willing to give up first place,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cEisenkot didn\u2019t agree to be second on the list, and maybe Lapid wasn\u2019t willing to be third.\u201d (Lapid on Sunday said he would do \u201cwhatever it takes\u201d to ensure victory.)<\/p>\n A challenge from within Likud<\/p>\n Another emerging development that could reshape the post-election coalition landscape is the effort by senior right-wing figures, including members of Netanyahu\u2019s coalition, to establish a new party tentatively dubbed \u201cLikud B<\/a>,\u201d aimed at creating a more \u2018statesmanlike\u2019 alternative to the ruling party, \u201cfree of extremists,\u201d according to a Channel 12 report on Saturday.<\/p>\n The effort involves current and former Likud figures who have had tensions with Netanyahu, including Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who led the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee before being ousted by the coalition last year due to his blocking its draft exemption law for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, who has also opposed that legislation.<\/p>\n Other figures said to be involved include former finance minister Moshe Kahlon, who served as a Likud MK and minister for 10 years before breaking away to form the Kulanu party, later joining a Netanyahu-led coalition and serving as finance minister from 2015 to 2020, and former UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who is also reportedly weighing a future bid to lead Likud.<\/p>\n \t The group has yet to agree on whether to support a Netanyahu-led coalition or back a potential government headed by Bennett or Eisenkot, who have emerged as the frontrunners to unseat Netanyahu.<\/p>\n But a source with knowledge of the talks told The Times of Israel Sunday that the Bennett-Lapid merger could help prod<\/a> further action by leaders of the moderate right opposed to the current government, especially if the new list proves it can garner increased electoral support.<\/p>\n Shapira also argued that the perception of a united and strengthened opposition could galvanize efforts to form the new party, in part because Netanyahu\u2019s victory may appear less certain, and also because it may benefit from former Bennett voters.<\/p>\n \u201cThey compete for the same voters as Bennett and may benefit from his merger with Lapid as some of his supporters could choose to defect to Likud B,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The strength of the opposition is not the primary driver behind the effort to form \u201cLikud B.\u201d Rather, the central calculation for many of the figures involved \u2014 particularly Erdan and Kahlon \u2014 is whether launching an independent faction could jeopardize their long-term ambitions to eventually lead Likud.<\/p>\n Barak offered a blunt assessment of that hesitation. \u201cMost people don\u2019t have the guts to form their own party,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re big talkers. They don\u2019t want to take the risk and run on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, a direct leadership contest within Likud remains unlikely while Netanyahu is still politically active. But Shapira noted that the timing question looms large.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/F260426TG01-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tGadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, speaks during the launch of a book by Yoav Limor and Oren Nahari in Herzliya, central Israel, April 26, 2026 (Tal Gal\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_2017-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tNaftali Bennett and Yair Lapid formally announce the formation of their new political union titled Together, April 26, 2026 (Sam Sokol\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/F260115YS15-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tFormer prime minister Naftali Bennett, right, and Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot attend a march in support of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, from the entrance to Jerusalem to the Knesset, January 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/F220918OF19-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tThen-prime minister Yair Lapid, right, with then-alternate prime minister Naftali Bennett at a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister\u2019s Office in Jerusalem on September 18, 2022. (Olivier Fitousi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20240418__34PP7JE__v1__HighRes__UnIsraelPalestinianConflictDiplomacy-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIsraeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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