Report: Bennett weighs ending alliance with Lapid

Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Yamina, or “Together,” party, has held consultations and examined whether to cancel his political union with Yair Lapid and run separately again. Channel 13 reported that the idea is being considered because of declining poll numbers and disagreements between the partners, though it is still unclear whether it will actually move forward.

Yamina denied the report outright in recent days. Bennett also responded personally, saying, “It did not come up. The only way to win is a united bloc. Splits led to defeat. In addition, every time you put someone from the center at the head, you lose, so putting a right-wing person is the right way.”

At the time the partnership was announced, Bennett boasted that it was drawing many Likud voters away and changing the electoral map. He said that voters were leaving a Likud that had become “an empty shell without a soul,” and claimed that, under Benjamin Netanyahu, the party was being taken over by “Kahanists, draft dodgers and corrupt people.”

But the polls have shown the opposite trend, with the united list weakening from week to week. That appears to be what prompted Bennett to look again at whether the alliance serves him politically, or whether it would hurt him at the ballot box.