Lapid Faces Party Defections as Yesh Atid Members Exit

Following the departures of Members of Knesset Yoav Segalovitz, Elazar Stern, and Moshe Cohen from the "Yesh Atid" party headed by Yair Lapid, it appears that two additional MK's, Mickey Levy and Karine Elharrar, may also defect from the party just before the submission of the final candidate lists for the upcoming Knesset elections early next week.

This is the heavy political price Lapid has recently been paying for the necessary union with Naftali Bennett and the renewal of the "Covenant of Brothers 2026," driven by the concern that the two parties separately would fail to bring about the long-sought change desired by members of the Israeli center-left bloc.

As a reminder, the main shared goal of the center-left parties in Israel is replacing Prime Minister Netanyahu, yet without readiness to unite in order to turn this objective into a new Israeli reality after the elections.

Until election day, Lapid finds himself increasingly resembling the chairman of the "Blue and White" party, Benny Gantz. In interviews with Israeli media outlets, Gantz remains convinced that he ought to lead the bloc opposing PM Netanyahu. In practice, however, most of his party members have abandoned him, leaving him with virtually a one-man party, and the sole person convinced and trying to convince the public that his standing is much better than it appears in latest polls.

Bennett and Lapid (Photo: Reuven Kastro)

Politically speaking, Lapid gained nothing from the union with Bennett. "Beyachad" party has recorded a continuous downward trend in the polls since the official announcement of its establishment, and Lapid knew in advance that by joining forces with Bennett, he was forced to give up the premiership, as he had done in the past during the formation of the "Change Government", as well as part ways with many of his party members who had been loyal to him from the very beginning.

This stems from a mutual understanding that due to the merge between the parties, their seats in the next Knesset are no longer guaranteed as they were back when "Yesh Atid" ran as an independent list.

If Lapid does not act wisely and cleverly, as the well-known Jewish proverb goes, "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war", he will find himself the leader of a solitary party whose sole existence is to guarantee him lifelong employment. Political commentators in Israel who are not Lapid supporters claim this was the reason for establishing "Yesh Atid" party in the first place, adding that Lapid himself knows that had he run alone, he would not have secured the necessary majority of recommenders for the President Herzog to task him with forming the next Israeli government.