Netanyahu's biggest rivals join forces for next Israeli elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's two biggest political rivals announced on Sunday that they are joining forces in an attempt to oust his coalition government in upcoming elections expected later this year, Reuters reported.

Former prime ministers, the right-wing Naftali Bennett and the centrist Yair Lapid, issued statements announcing the merger of their parties, "Bennett 2026" and "There is a Future."

"We stand here together for our children. The State of Israel must change direction," Lapid said, standing next to Bennett at a joint press conference.

Bennett said the new party would be called "Together" and he would be its leader.

"After thirty years, it's time to part ways with Netanyahu and open a new chapter for Israel," he said.

Since his first term in the 1990s, Netanyahu has been a polarizing figure at home and abroad.

Joining forces again

Bennett and Lapid had previously joined forces, ending Netanyahu's consecutive twelve-year term in the 2021 elections, to form a coalition government that, with a slim majority and deeply divided over important issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, survived for eighteen months.

Their coalition included for the first time in Israel's history a party from the country's Arab minority – Palestinian by origin, Israeli by citizenship – the United Arab List (UAL).

Prior to that, the duo had strongly pushed into his coalition government in 2013, a move that sidelined Netanyahu's traditional ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, returned to power when he won the November 2022 elections and formed the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

Hamas's attack on southern Israel in 2023, which plunged the Middle East into turmoil and saw Israel fighting on multiple fronts, left Netanyahu's security credentials in tatters, and polls have since predicted he will lose the next election, due by the end of October.

Netanyahu, the most dominant Israeli politician of his generation, has shown remarkable political survival skills in the past. On Sunday, he posted a photo of Bennett and Lapid with UAL leader Mansour Abbas from 2021.

"They did it once, they'll do it again," Netanyahu's Telegram post read, an apparent jab at their short-lived 2021 coalition that included the UAL.

Bennett said he would no longer seek a coalition with Arab parties and ruled out ceding any land to enemies, an apparent reference to the Palestinian goal of establishing an independent state in territories occupied by Israel.

Changing the political map

Bennett (54), a hawkish former military commando turned tech millionaire, trails Netanyahu in opinion polls. An April 23 poll by Israel's N12 News showed Bennett winning 21 of the Knesset's 120 seats, compared to 25 seats for Netanyahu's Likud.

Lapid's party is given seven seats, down from the 24 it currently holds, but with Netanyahu's coalition of right-wing and religious parties holding only 50 seats, compared to at least 60 seats for Bennett and Lapid's likely coalition which would include several smaller factions.

The poll was in line with previous surveys by academic institutions and other Israeli media, which have placed Bennett as Netanyahu's main challenger, although the political map could still change.

Lapid (62), a telegenic former TV host who writes pop songs and thrillers, speaks for Israel's secular middle class, who are resentful of what they see as an unfair tax and military burden.

Netanyahu's ultra-religious political allies are seeking exemptions for their communities, which have low employment and many state benefits, from military conscription.

This is a hot issue in Israel that has become even more important since the army warned it was overstretched and that the past two years have seen the highest number of military casualties in decades.

Both Lapid and Bennett have made this a central issue of their campaigns. They have also criticized Netanyahu for failing to leverage military gains for strategic victories over Iran and its proxy groups in Lebanon and Gaza – Hezbollah and Hamas.