PNN – Figures opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a unified party to compete with him in the upcoming elections.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid announced Sunday that they will merge their parties into a single party to run in the upcoming elections.
The new party will be led by Naftali Bennett. The move is aimed at uniting the parties and ending their internal disputes.
According to a statement released by Naftali Bennett’s office, this is called “the first step on the path to reforming Israel” and aims to ensure a decisive victory in the upcoming elections and lead the Zionist regime towards the desired reforms. The new party will be called “Together” and will be led by Naftali Bennett, who will hold the majority of seats in the party.
Bennett and Lapid are expected to announce more details at a joint news conference today, possibly inviting other opposition parties in Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to join the new bloc.
Hebrew media reports suggest that the final agreement between Bennett and Lapid was signed late Saturday. Bennett had previously offered to join the There Is a Future party to Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israeli army and leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, but Eisenkot rejected the offer.
The alliance came after Bennett declared that defeating Netanyahu’s government was impossible given the fragmentation of the opposition groups. He and Lapid had met several times and conducted polls before this decision.
Eisenkot: We will work together to win
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot issued a statement congratulating Naftali Bennett and announcing that the common goal is victory in the upcoming decisive elections. He added: I consider Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid partners and will continue to work responsibly to achieve victory and the change that is desirable for Israel.
Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Israel Our Home party, welcomed the alliance as a necessary step to replace the October 7 cabinet.
Yair Golan, the leader of the Democratic Party, welcomed any alliance in the opposition bloc against Netanyahu, stating that his party would be the democratic and liberal pillar of the future cabinet.
Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Religious Zionist Party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, as well as Itamar Ben-Governor, the Minister of Public Security and leader of the Otzma Judaism party, criticized the move. Ben-Governor called Bennett a far-leftist.