Sawt Falasteen - Two former Israel PMs unite to challenge Netanyahu in elections

Lapid, himself a former premier, said they would run on a joint list in the parliamentary election due in October, with a formal announcement expected later on Sunday.

In a post on X, Lapid said the pair would "announce today the first step in the process of repairing the State of Israel: the merger of Yesh Atid and 'Bennett 2026' into a single party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett".

"The move brings about the unification of the Repair Bloc, enabling all efforts to be focused on leading Israel toward the necessary repair."

Both have been outspoken critics of Netanyahu's handling of the country's wars since October 2023, with Lapid going so far as to label the recent two-week ceasefire agreed with Iran a "political disaster".

Right-winger Bennett, a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and centrist Lapid previously formed a coalition government in June 2021.

It was replaced at the end of 2022 by the current administration led by Netanyahu, after Bennett said in June of that year that his coalition was no longer tenable and Lapid served a brief stint as caretaker prime minister.

Opinion polls suggest Bennett is the candidate best placed to defeat Netanyahu in the October vote.

The 54-year-old son of American immigrants and a former high-tech entrepreneur, Bennett sold his start-up in 2005 for $145 million (110 million euros).

As a former Israeli commando officer, he has a profile that resonates with part of the country's younger generation after more than two years of the Gaza war.

Once a Netanyahu adviser, Bennett has over time become a staunch opponent of his former mentor's policies.

He led several right-wing parties before forming a broad unity government in 2021.

His new running mate, 62-year-old Lapid, is the son of the late journalist and minister Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, and acclaimed author Shulamit Lapid.

A prominent television journalist, Lapid entered politics in 2012 by founding Yesh Atid, which went on to become the country's second-largest political force.

He has since served as opposition leader, aside from his brief stint as prime minister.

Netanyahu plans to lead his party's list in the general election that must be held no later than the end of October.

At 76, the leader of the right-wing Likud party is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, with more than 18 cumulative years in office across multiple stints.

S.Barghouti--SF-PST