Lapid Rejects Reports of Rift With Bennett, Calls Alliance a Winning “Union”

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid responded sharply on Tuesday morning to reports that Naftali Bennett was considering ending their political partnership in the Yachad party. Lapid did not limit himself to a party statement, saying, “I am not only completely satisfied with this union, it will also save the State of Israel and win the election.”

His comments followed an overnight report by Michael Shemesh on Channel 13 that Bennett had recently examined dissolving the political tie with Lapid. The report said the move was being considered because of the party’s weak polling and accusations that Lapid was not keeping his promises on field organizing and recruiting activists.

Lapid blamed what he called the “poison machine” for spreading “fake news from anonymous sources” to harm political threats to their rivals. He wrote that “this is their way to try to hurt everything that threatens them,” and said he and Bennett decided this time to answer the reports in full. He also cited Bennett’s earlier press conference, where Bennett denied the claims and said, “It never happened.”

Lapid repeated Bennett’s denial and argued that the partnership between them is not only intact but politically necessary. He described it as a “connection between the center and the liberal right,” and added that it is also a reunion of “two brothers who already beat them once,” referring to their previous joint leadership of the government of change. The reports are not new, and a senior figure in Bennett’s circle recently called Lapid a “bomb attack” on the campaign, accusing him of driving away moderate right-wing voters. That same source also attacked political strategist Lior Chorev. Despite the tension, both leaders now say the alliance will continue, with Bennett stressing that “the only way to win is a unified bloc.”