Former Israeli Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will run in this year’s Knesset election as a joint party called “Together,” led by Bennett, they announced on Sunday.

The move comes as the bloc of Zionist parties running against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc has recently polled higher than the parties in Netanyahu’s coalition, but with fewer than the 61-seat majority needed to form a government. 

Sources close to both party leaders told Jewish Insider that they began discussing a joint run a week ago, and reached the final decision on Saturday night. Bennett will lead the party after having a consistently stronger showing in polls in recent months. 

Bennett, a former IDF combat officer, described the merger as “the most Zionist and most patriotic thing we have ever done for our country.”

“I am proud that two leaders with different opinions can fight together for the good of the people of Israel, just like our sons, our soldiers, fight shoulder to shoulder,” he said in a press conference, and commended Lapid for putting “the good of the country above all.”

Lapid said that the country “needs unity like air to breathe.”

“We are standing here together for whoever believes in democracy, believes in the deep Jewish element of the state, believes in the value of Zionism and our right to this land … Israel has the best people in the world who deserve an efficient, functioning and fair government,” he said.

Lapid noted that he and Bennett are longtime friends who trust one another.

Bennett and Lapid both entered Israeli politics in 2013, with Bennett elected leader of Bayit Yehudi, as the historic National Religious Party was called, and Lapid establishing his own Yesh Atid party. After a strong electoral showing for both that year, they negotiated in a bloc, essentially forcing Netanyahu to form a coalition with them that excluded Haredi parties. Bennett joined subsequent Netanyahu-led governments until 2021, and established new parties over the years, while Lapid stayed with Yesh Atid and refused to work with Netanyahu after the 2013-2015 coalition collapsed. In 2021, they formed a coalition with Bennett at its helm.

Lapid said in response to a question at the press conference on Sunday that by running together, he and Bennett would ensure that the next government would not be led by Netanyahu.

Bennett described the party’s positions as “right-wing liberal Zionism: strength in diplomacy and security, with a home for the whole Israeli public.”

Among the policies the leaders said they would advance are a commission of inquiry about the failures of Oct. 7, 2023, mandatory IDF draft for all and “not even one shekel” for those who dodge the draft, eight-year term limits for prime ministers, starting with Bennett, as well as a focus on education, the cost of living and fighting corruption.

Bennett and Lapid have similar positions on the aforementioned domestic issues, but the former is an opponent of a Palestinian state and has been a major advocate of West Bank settlements, heading their umbrella organization the Yesha Council in 2010-2012. Lapid has generally supported a Palestinian state, though at times had said it is unrealistic in the short term.

Party sources speaking to JI on Sunday had a similar message, that, while Bennett and Lapid do differ on the Palestinian issue, it is not on the agenda right now. One noted that they both believe there needs to be a crackdown against extremist violence against Palestinians.

Asked during the press conference about legalizing same-sex marriage in Israel, Bennett avoided using the term “marriage,” but said that any couple should be able to “start a family and enjoy all of the rights of a married couple without having to go to Cyprus or Utah,” places where Israelis unable to marry in Israel, whether because they are the same sex, different religions or other reasons, are able to obtain civil marriages. As the leader of a religious party, and when he continued to court right-wing votes in more recent elections, Bennett did not express support for gay marriage.

Netanyahu responded to the merger with an image from 2021 showing Lapid and Bennett with Mansour Abbas, head of Ra’am, an Islamist party, who was in their governing coalition. Netanyahu added the message “they will do it again,” accompanied by menacing music. 

The Knesset election is currently set for Oct. 27, but could be called for an earlier date, with at least 90 days notice.