Two ex-Israel PMs unite to challenge Netanyahu in polls

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid announced Sunday they will run on a joint list in this year’s elections, in a move aimed at unseating incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I am pleased to announce that tonight, together with my friend Yair Lapid, I am taking the most Zionist and patriotic step we have ever taken for our country,” Bennett said in a joint televised statement with Lapid.

“Tonight, we are uniting and founding the Beyahad (Together) party under my leadership, a party that will lead to a great victory and open a new era for our beautiful country.”

During the televised statement, Lapid said: “Bennett is a right-wing politician, but an honest one, and there is trust between us.”

Earlier on Sunday, Lapid, himself a former premier, had said he would join forces with Bennett.

“The move brings about the unification of the Repair Bloc, enabling all efforts to be focused on leading Israel toward the necessary repair,” he wrote on X.

Bennett said that if elected, he would establish a national commission of inquiry into the failures leading up to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack -- something the current Netanyahu government has rejected.

Bennett and Lapid have been outspoken critics of Netanyahu’s handling of the country’s wars since that attack, with Lapid going so far as to label the recent two-week ceasefire agreed with Iran a “political disaster”.

Opinion polls suggest Bennett is the candidate best placed to defeat Netanyahu in the October vote.