Although he is not rushing to join forces with Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid and is even in talks about teaming up with Yisrael Beytenu and Avigdor Liberman, Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot said at a closed activists’ conference that he believed a joint run with Bennett and Lapid would be the optimal way to contest the next election.
“My thinking was to reach an optimal structure that would bring the maximum number of votes and lead to victory, certainly not to repeat what happened in the last election," Eisenkot said at the conference on Thursday night, during remarks that surfaced over the weekend. Sources close to Eisenkot said he was describing a move he tried to advance about six months ago, which has become irrelevant since Bennett and Lapid joined forces.
Eisenkot said he had tried to promote the move months ago. “About six months ago, I tried to advance the organization of the camp that the media calls center-left. I called it the national camp,” he said. He explained that the goal was “for it to go with the liberal right, meaning Bennett, Lapid and my party, based on the understanding that Yair Golan represents a different worldview. Liberman — I know his positions. The idea was to present the camp with three ballots — a super-party, and parties to the right and left.”
At the meeting, Eisenkot also revealed what he really thinks about the Bennett-Lapid union, which was carried out without his knowledge.
“I continue talking with them and meeting with them, and then I get a phone call and they tell me: ‘Hello Gadi, here’s a heads-up. We decided to unite.’ I wished them success. There was a news conference where I heard that they had opened the door for me and were clearing the second or third spot for me. That is not how partnerships are built, but I am not offended.”
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Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid announce their joint run in the next elections
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
Eisenkot added: “I immediately picked up the phone and said, ‘Let’s meet, let’s keep cooperating.’ What guides me is how to defeat this bad government. Contrary to the pressure they are starting to put on me from around me, and the articles and stories — I am not offended or anything.”
About a week ago, ynet revealed that exploratory contacts and talks are underway over a possible merger between Eisenkot’s and Liberman’s lists ahead of the next election. Sources close to both men said the Bennett-Lapid alliance had opened new possibilities for party mergers in the change bloc, and that neither man rules out uniting the two parties into one list before the election.
The talks are preliminary, and the question of leadership and who would head the list has not yet been discussed between the two, but messages have already been exchanged between them to examine the possibility.
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Avigdor Liberman of the Yisrael Beytenu party has not ruled out a joint run with Eisenkot
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
A senior source close to Eisenkot told ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth: “The union between Lapid and Bennett opened additional possibilities for Eisenkot that were not previously on the table, such as a merger with Liberman. Bennett and Lapid thought they would unite and Gadi would immediately join them. That is not where things stand.”
A source close to Liberman said he does not rule out such a merger, provided it would add at least two seats to the change bloc and not cost it seats.
“The goal is to replace Netanyahu and this government. Therefore, any cooperation or merger that advances that goal is welcome,” he said. “If such a merger can bring two more seats to the bloc in order to replace Netanyahu, then it is certainly on the agenda.”
First published: 11:20, 05.10.26