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Estimated Knesset Seats by Party
Polling projections for potential Knesset seat distribution following the merger.
Primary Sources
Former Israeli Premiers Join in Bid to Oust Netanyahu in Elections
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.
Coalition MKs, including Netanyahu, denounce Bennett, Lapid
ByJAMES GENNAPRIL 26, 2026 20:07Updated: APRIL 26, 2026 20:12Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid's Sunday announcement that they will form a joint list for the upcoming Knesset elections, posting an inflammatory video to his personal X/Twitter account.In the video, Netanyahu shows a picture taken in 2021, when Bennett and Lapid signed a coalition agreement with Mansour Abbas, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Ra'am (United Arab List)."They did it once, they will do it again," the caption read.Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot responded to the announcement, saying that the "goal of winning the critical elections before us is a shared goal.""I see Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid as partners and will continue to do, with responsibility and wisdom, what is right to achieve the victory and the change needed for the State of Israel. Fixing Israel is the mission of my life, and I am determined to fulfill it," Eisenkot wrote on X.Blue and White chair Benny Gantz congratulated Bennett and Lapid. He said that the real connection the State of Israel needs is "between the different parts of the people, without boycotts and without hatred.""Only a broad Zionist unity government will ensure that, which will isolate the extremists and advance Israel forward, and not a government that relies on extremists or non-Zionist parties," he wrote.THEN-PRIME minister Naftali Bennett and then-foreign minister Yair Lapid hold a news conference in the Knesset, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)"And that - only Blue and White promises," he concluded.Democrats Party head Yair Golan wrote that he "welcomes every unification in the [Left] bloc.""In the face of the challenges before us, the Democrats Party will constitute the sturdy democratic and liberal backbone in the next government, and will ensure that the camp's values lead and are not pushed aside," he added.Liberman: 'We must replace the government of October 7'Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman wrote that he welcomes the unification and wishes them both success."We must remember that the goal is to replace the government of October 7," he wrote on X.Reservists Party chair Yoaz Hendel wished Bennett and Lapid "success in uniting their lists.""We call on right-wingers who have been hesitating to join the Reservists Party," he added.The Netanyahu-led Likud Party posted an inflammatory AI-generated picture showing Abbas driving a vehicle, with child versions of ...
Netanyahu's biggest rivals to unite for Israeli election
Two of Benjamin Netanyahu 's most prominent political rivals are to join forces in a bid to unseat Israel 's longest-serving prime minister at an election this year. Former prime ministers Naftali Bennett, a right-wing leader, and Yair Lapid, a centrist, announced an alliance between their respective parties, Bennett 2026 and There is a Future.
Former PMs Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid join hands to ... - WION
Naftali Bennett, a Right-winger and longtime supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and centrist Yair Lapid had previously formed a coalition government in June 2021, which was replaced at the end of 2022 by the current administration led by PM Benjamin Netanyahu.



