The merger deal, as revealed by Kan, makes him the alliance's sole candidate for prime minister for the whole term, with no rotation with Lapid. Lapid keeps an exit hatch: he can split Yesh Atid off the joint list after the election.
Who they are
Naftali Bennett is a former technology entrepreneur who served as Israel’s thirteenth prime minister. He was born in Haifa in 1972, the youngest of three sons of parents who had come from San Francisco a month after the Six Day War; his father was an estate agent and building developer. He led a Bnei Akiva branch, volunteered for Sayeret Matkal at eighteen and later commanded a company in Maglan.
He read law and business administration at the Hebrew University and in 1999 founded Cyota, an information-security start-up he ran until RSA bought it for $145m six years later. Ayelet Shaked recruited him to run Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition office; the two left in 2008, and he then directed the Yesha Council through the fight against the West Bank building freeze. He took the Jewish Home leadership in 2012, held the economy and then the education portfolio, and broke away with Shaked to form the New Right, later Yamina.
After the 2021 election Bennett broke off coalition talks with Likud to build a rotation government with Yair Lapid that stretched to Meretz, with Ra’am supporting it from outside. It lost its majority when Idit Silman walked out in April 2022; the two brought the rotation forward, and Bennett handed Yamina to Shaked and said he would not stand again.
Positions and record
Governance: A broad unity government without Netanyahu.
Draft: A real enlistment law with enforcement teeth.
Economy: Startup-nation growth, deregulation, tech education.
Judicial overhaul: As Education Minister and Jewish Home leader in 2015-2018 he championed the Knesset override clause letting lawmakers overturn Supreme Court rulings, calling its passage 'a great day for Israeli democracy.' By 2023 he opposed Netanyahu's unilateral overhaul as 'the most dangerous point' in Israeli history and pushed for a negotiated pause instead.
Marriage and religious coercion: As Bayit Yehudi leader in 2012 he said Judaism 'doesn't recognize gay marriage... and nothing will change it.' By April 2026 he reversed course, saying every Israeli 'should be able to realize their love' and backing civil and same-sex marriage.
Coalition partners: He has said his next government would include only 'Zionist' parties, ruling out reliance on Arab parties such as Ra'am -- a reversal from his own 2021-2022 government, which made history by including Ra'am.
Where they stand
Breaks with the party line on 2 issues, marked below.