Lapid's Yesh Atid Unveils Knesset List Amidst Party Exodus

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid revealed the party's candidate list for the upcoming Knesset elections on Saturday, September 5. The party will run in an electoral bloc called "BeYahad" led by Naftali Bennett, with Yesh Atid explaining the focus was on renewal and promoting younger generations. Prominent lawmakers who were active in the previous Knesset's financial and legislative committees also secured favorable positions. Notably, Russian-speaking lawmaker Vladimir Beliak, who was active in the Knesset's finance committee, is placed seventh on the list. The "BeYahad" bloc's top ten will feature Bennett's representatives and Yesh Atid members, with Lapid holding 40% of the list's spots and Bennett 60%. Since their alliance, both politicians have seen a decline in poll numbers, according to Ynet. The party highlighted that active parliamentarians like Vladimir Beliak and Naor Shiri, who opposed the "uncontrolled transfer of coalition funds," were rewarded with high list placements. Beliak, Shiri, and Moshe Tur-Paz had filed a "billion-shekel petition" with the High Court of Justice challenging a Knesset finance committee decision to transfer approximately 1.09 billion shekels, primarily to ultra-Orthodox schools, citing procedural violations. General (res.) Noam Tibon and Neta Atias, who led the Yesh Atid parliamentary faction, are also on the list, though Atias's tenth-place position is not considered a guaranteed seat. Yesh Atid described the past week as one of the most difficult in its history due to a series of departures. Russian-speaking MK Tatiana Mazarsky announced on September 1 that she would not run in the next election but would continue to assist the party. Konstantin Razvozov had previously left the party in January 2023. This leaves only one of the three Russian-speaking MKs Yesh Atid had at the start of 2023. The party, once a major force, is facing significant fragmentation, with only 12 of the 24 MKs elected four years ago expected to remain on the list for the October 27 elections. Several other prominent members, including Orna Barbivai, Yoel Razvozov, Boaz Toporovsky, Meir Cohen, Miki Levy, Elazar Stern, Ron Katz, Idan Roll, and Yoav Segalovich, have left the party or national politics for various reasons.