Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) announced Sunday evening, April 26, that their parties will run together on a joint list headed by Bennett, named “Together – Led by Bennett.” At a joint press conference with Lapid, Bennett emphasized that the joint party would rely solely on Zionist parties after the elections. “The Arab parties are not Zionist, and therefore we will not rely on them,” he said.
When asked if a government could be formed “without the support of MKs Ahmad Tibi or Aida Touma-Sliman” from the Hadash-Ta’al faction, Bennett replied: “We have a large majority even without them.” This statement comes despite a series of recent polls indicating that the Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu are unlikely to secure a majority without the support of Hadash and the Arab parties.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and MK Yair Lapid at a press conference held last night in Herzliya (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90
Bennet, a rich businessman who from 2010 to 2012, Bennett served as the director of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, declared “We will lead the path of the Zionist liberal right.” In response to reporters’ questions, he added that he would agree to sit in a government with Benjamin Netanyahu if the move were part of a rotation agreement. Responding to the move, MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) said: “Right has found its right-hand man. Salvation will not come from another right-wing party. Israel needs a true leftist alternative that only we present—a Jewish-Arab partnership that will end the occupation and promote just peace, along with economic, social, national, ethnic, and gender equality, creating a deep and strong democracy.”
Following the unification, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new “Yashar” party, called this morning for a meeting of opposition leaders excluding Hadash and Islamist Ra’am, “in order to ensure victory through Zionist and statesmanlike votes without Arabs.” In his announcement, Eisenkot mentioned the leaders of the “Together” list, Bennett and Lapid, as well as Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=33409
