April 26, 2026
Sources: https://x.com/naftalibennett/status/2048485392865755469 and https://x.com/EylonALevy/status/2048454059560935745
Former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, now the leader of the Knesset opposition, announced April 26, 2026, that they are forming a combined list called Together (Yachad) for the Knesset election due to be held in Israel by October.
“Our unity is a message to the entire people of Israel. The era of division is over. The era of correction has arrived,” Bennett said in a press conference with Lapid.
In Israel’s parliamentary system, voters do not elect an individual to represent them or to serve as prime minister. Instead, they choose an electoral list, which can represent one political party or multiple political parties that agree in advance to run together. The Knesset’s 120 seats are proportionally allocated among the lists that receive at least 3.25% of the votes. After consulting the leaders of the lists that pass that electoral threshold, the president picks one party leader to try to form a coalition government with a Knesset majority. No Israeli list has won a majority on its own.
See this explainer video for more on how Israel votes and this one for details on how a government is formed after an election.
Bennett, who rose in politics as the head of the religious Zionist party Jewish Home, and Lapid, a TV newsman who launched and has led the centrist, secular Yesh Atid party, formed a governing coalition in 2021. Under their agreement, Bennett was prime minister for a year, then Lapid took power until the government fell apart in fall 2022.
Their coalition was unique for two reasons: It marked the first time that an independent Arab-dominated party, Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am, was a full member of the government, and it was the only time since mid-2009 that Benjamin Netanyahu was not the prime minister. Also significant was that no prime minister ever led a smaller legislative bloc than Bennett, whose Yamima party won only seven of the 120 Knesset seats in 2021.
Analysts said the union combined Bennett’s popularity, particularly among Netanyahu’s right-wing base, with Lapid’s strong grass-roots political operations. The relative strengths of their parties flipped the past five years, according to a mid-April Maariv poll, which showed Bennett’s unnamed party on track to win 24 Knesset seats, while Yesh Atid would receive seven. Netanyahu’s Likud party was ahead with 25 seats.
Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having served more than 18 years in the office since 1996. His third stint began in December 2022 after an election November 1 that year.
But his 2022-2026 coalition was viewed as Israel’s most right-wing government, including Cabinet posts for Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist Party and Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit, as some members of Netanyahu’s Likud party and past conservative political allies, such as Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beiteinu and Bennett himself, broke away.
Some Netanyahu foes think no one should be prime minister as long as he has served. Some focus on policy issues, such as his support for increased funding Haredi Jews without forcing them to serve in the military or his effort to enact a judicial overhaul. Some emphasize the corruption charges filed against him in 2019 and stalled in court amid protests and wars. And some cite Israel’s catastrophic failure to prevent Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks and to dislodge the terrorist organization from Gaza.
Despite many political and religious differences, Bennett and Lapid agreed on several key issues, most notably the need to force Netanyahu from office and the necessity of integrating the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) into the military.
Unlike their postelection agreement to form a coalition in 2021, Bennett and Lapid’s pre-election union in 2026 did not include a plan to rotate the premiership. Instead, Bennett stood as the party leader and would be its candidate for prime minister. Depending on whether other parties joined them, Lapid might not even be Together’s No. 2.
Among opposition political leaders who cheered the announcement were Liberman, Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and The Democrats head Yair Golan. Netanyahu allies who criticized the move included National Security Minister Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Smotrich and Aryeh Deri of Shas.
Yoaz Hendel, who leads the new Reservists party, wished Together well but said his party was the only place for fellow right-wingers opposed to the Netanyahu government.
— Michael Jacobs, May 1, 2026
Naftali Bennett: My brothers and sisters, fateful moments demand bold steps, and that’s exactly what we’re doing now. I’m thrilled to announce to you that tonight, together with my colleague Yair Lapid, we’re taking the most Zionist and patriotic action we’ve ever taken for the sake of our country.
Tonight, we’re uniting and establishing the Together party under my leadership, a party that will lead to a great victory and the opening of a new era for our beloved country.
Yair and I have different views on a range of issues, and we’re not hiding it. On the contrary, we’re proud of it. I’m proud that two leaders with different views can fight together for the good of the people of Israel, just as our sons, our soldiers, fight shoulder to shoulder.
The unity between us is a message to all the people of Israel. The era of division is over. The era of repair has arrived. When we work together, we win.
In the change government under my leadership, in one year we accomplished what other governments didn’t in four: We took the economy from a massive deficit to a surplus. We stopped the suitcases of cash to Hamas. We refused to accept even a single incendiary balloon. We brought personal security back to the streets.
Those were good days for Israel. And this time, in the new government we’ll form, it will be bigger, faster and better — a government of professionals, CEOs, executives and doers who think only of Israel’s good.
The country will return to being managed. We’re coming with ready work plans so as not to waste a single moment. This is a big step toward repairing the country, but far from the last one. You’ll see more moves and more surprises that will change the face of the country.
On the first day of the new government under my leadership, we’ll establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre to bring truth to the families and answers to all the people of Israel.
We’ll introduce a law for service for all, and we’ll stop funding draft evasion even by a single shekel.
We’ll limit the tenure of a prime minister to eight years, and it will apply first and foremost to me.
We’ll safeguard the lands of our country and not surrender a centimeter to the enemy.
We’ll strengthen a Judaism that is embracing, good and inclusive, without coercion.
Above all, we’ll ensure that Israel’s young women and men, who serve and give so much of their soul and body to the country, can build their future here.
Not for the first time, Yair Lapid is showing leadership. With him, the good of the country is truly above all. He has the courage to decide and the generosity to act.
Your excellent party members from Yesh Atid are joining tonight with my colleagues and me into one big family: Together. Soon we’ll return to a government of “we” and not “me.”
We’ll lead the people in the way that most Israeli citizens believe in, the way of the liberal Zionist right: political and security strength, together with a home for all of Israeli society. Every Israeli will feel wanted, loved and respected here, even if they didn’t vote for me.
Soon good days will come for all the people of Israel. May the Lord grant strength to His people; may the Lord bless His people with peace.
Yair Lapid: I want to start by offering my deepest condolences to the family of Idan Fooks, who fell in Lebanon defending the country, and send my wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured.
We stand here today, together, to begin a great repair in the people of Israel. We stand here together for our children. The State of Israel needs to change direction. This is a test of our leadership, and we will meet it.
What you see here today is the first step. We are here because this country needs unity as much as it needs air to breathe. We stand here together for everyone who believes in democracy, who believes in the deep Jewish foundation of this state, who believes in the values of Zionism and in our right to this land.
I want to say from here to the people of Yesh Atid, who for 14 years have fought with love for the country: Today we are doing what we have always known how to do, putting ego aside and doing what is right for the State of Israel.
To win the elections, the entire Israeli center must stand behind Naftali Bennett. Bennett is a man of the right, but a man of the liberal, decent, law-abiding right who has not sold out his values, not to Haredi extortion and not to corruption.
He was an excellent prime minister, and he will be an excellent prime minister again. That is what we need now.
I am not trying to blur differences or disagreements, but there has always been something else between us: trust and friendship.
We have known each other for many years. We have been through a great deal together. We have made difficult decisions together. We know we can count on each other. There is trust and there is friendship between us.
We have all come through difficult years. The people of Israel have been torn apart from within. Then came the October 7 massacre. Two and a half years of running to shelters and the names of fallen soldiers.
The cost of living is destroying an entire generation. The violence on our streets is unbearable. The citizens of Israel deserve something different.
We are uniting today to win the elections and to establish a Zionist government, strong and stable. A partnership between the center and right, between religious and secular, between north and south, without draft dodging and without extremism.
Israel has the best people in the world. They deserve an efficient, functioning, honest government, one that invests in the working public that serves in the army, in reservists and their families. A government that will provide security, focus on education, lower prices, fight corruption and draft the Haredim.
Not long ago, there were elections in Hungary. The opposition victory shattered every poll. It was far greater than anyone expected. After 16 years in power, Orbán lost. It happened because people believed change was possible. They united behind one candidate, fought for their country — and they won.
That is why Bennett and I are here. That is why we are making this union. You will hear a thousand commentaries now, but remember one thing: What you are feeling right now, something you have not felt in a long time, is called hope. Thank you very much.
