Bennett and Eizenkot Parties Will Run Separately in Elections

Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have decided not to unite their political parties for the upcoming Knesset elections, despite recent negotiations. Representatives from both the Yishai party, led by Eizenkot, and the Together party, led by Bennett, submitted their separate lists to the Knesset on Monday. Talks for a joint run had continued until the end of last week.

The decision to run independently was reportedly based on a comprehensive poll indicating that a merger would not increase their combined strength and could even diminish it. Specifically, the survey suggested that a joint list might cause 2% of their potential voters to shift to Prime Minister Netanyahu's bloc.

Earlier, Bennett and Eizenkot had been discussing a potential union for months. The Together party had presented its Knesset list, featuring 50% women in its top ten, including three senior female public sector CEOs. Eizenkot had also announced the addition of Chili Tropper and his party members to his list, with Tropper slated for the sixth position. This followed Tropper's announcement, along with Yoaz Hendel, of the dissolution of their partnership between the "Zionist House" and "Reservists" factions.