Too Early to Write Off Bennett and Lapid Despite Slipping Polls

Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett have launched a new joint political project, the “Together” party, led by Bennett, from a new headquarters in Ra’anana. The article argues that although recent polls show a clear trend of Bennett and Lapid falling while Gadi Eisenkot rises, it is still too soon to conclude their partnership has failed.

The two leaders announced their alliance and then moved into campaign work, building a shared headquarters, planning strategy, arranging activists and developing a common message. The piece says they did not do enough to “market” the union to voters, instead of saturating social media and journalists with images and gimmicks meant to brand them as a united force.

Still, the article says three factors could work in their favor. First, they are experienced politicians with strong advisers. Second, elections in Israel are decided in a single day, about 15 hours, and Yesh Atid has a well-oiled ground operation, while Lapid has already done this seven times. Third, public attention moves much more slowly than the media cycle, especially during summer, when voters are busy with vacations, flights, camps and activities.

To show how quickly Israeli politics can reverse, the article cites several elections. In 1996, Shimon Peres led for months before Benjamin Netanyahu won by 29,457 votes. In 2021, Benny Gantz began election day below the electoral threshold and ended with eight seats. In 2015, the Zionist Union led in polls before Netanyahu’s “gasp” campaign surged to 30 seats. In 2013, Lapid himself rose from polls projecting 10 to 12 seats to 19. The article’s bottom line is that Bennett and Lapid should not be written off yet.