Lapid said willing to drop to third spot on ticket with Bennett if Eisenkot joins

Eisenkot resists invitation, welcomes economist Shaul Meridor into his own Yashar party’s electoral slate; low-polling Gantz says Bennett-Lapid merger doesn’t serve Israel’s interests

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid told his political ally Naftali Bennett on Tuesday that he was willing to take third place, rather than second, on their joint electoral slate if it would help secure a broader merger with Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, a source close to Lapid said.

On Sunday evening, Lapid and Bennett announced that they were uniting their two parties into a combined ticket called “Together – Led by Bennett.”

The source added that “Lapid says his personal ranking is far less important than the need to unite forces and win the election.”

Declaring that he and Lapid were “racing forward to victory,” Bennett invited Eisenkot to join them, stating that “our door is open to you too.”

A source close to Eisenkot dismissed Lapid’s offer to join the new union despite the fact that Eisenkot was first reported to have proposed a merger in January.

“That’s not the point at all. We’re only interested in what will bring victory to the bloc,” the source told The Times of Israel.

Eisenkot welcomed Bennett and Lapid’s new union, calling them “allies,” but suggested the union might find it hard to draw votes away from the pro-Netanyahu right.

“For this victory to happen, we need to bring in more votes — that is our only test. Every union must be judged by that,” Eisenkot said on Sunday.

He subsequently invited most of the opposition leaders to convene to coordinate a path to a victory by a “Zionist majority” over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in elections set for October.

A Channel 12 poll released on Monday found that if Eisenkot were to join Bennett and Lapid on a single slate, the alliance would win 41 seats. But the broader bloc balance would remain largely unaffected, with 50 seats for Netanyahu’s coalition, 60 for Zionist opposition parties, and 10 for Arab parties.

In response, Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz said that the merger “harms the ability to replace this terrible government,” insisting that “the best solution is a broad, Zionist government.”

“Instead of calling out to right-wing voters, Likudniks, and religious Zionists who are looking for a new home today — and telling them that we will ensure the establishment of a broad Zionist government without extremists, that will handle conscription and security and economic challenges — they chose to continue entrenching themselves in intra-bloc battles and obsessing over ‘who’ will lead, rather than ‘where’ we will lead,” Gantz wrote on Facebook.

“Both Bennett and Lapid are people I respect, but each of them has once again chosen what serves them personally, rather than what serves the country,” he wrote.

For voters who want “a victory for the entire people of Israel,” he said, “I am your insurance policy to do everything possible to replace Netanyahu and the government of extremists, and to ensure the establishment of a broad Zionist government. In today’s political arena, only Blue and White guarantees that an extremist government won’t rise here again, nor a narrow minority government that relies on Arab parties and would collapse in the face of the first security challenge.”

Recent polls place Gantz’s Blue and White below the electoral threshold. He was also the only major Zionist opposition leader not invited to Eisenkot’s proposed coordination meeting.

Gantz has broken with other opposition leaders by suggesting he could join a Netanyahu-led government and has resisted attempts to be categorized as part of the opposition bloc.

Later on Tuesday, Eisenkot announced that former Finance Ministry budget chief Shaul Meridor would be joining Yashar’s slate ahead of the upcoming elections.

Meridor, the son of former Likud justice-minister-turned-government-critic Dan Meridor, entered the public eye in 2020 for resigning in protest of then-finance minister Israel Katz’s budgetary moves and what he described as the government’s “irresponsible” economic policies.

Since leaving public service, Meridor served as chief financial officer of tech company Lightricks and spoke out against the government at rallies.

Eisenkot said in a statement that Meridor has for months played “a central role” in formulating Yashar’s economic policy and calls him “an Israeli patriot, with extensive public service experience, who deeply understands the failures that have developed in Israel’s economy and who for years stood up to attempts to harm it.”

Meridor said he decided to return to public service following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

“Israel now needs deep repair – something I want to take part in and contribute to,” he said, adding that he decided to join Eisenkot, whom he has known since Eisenkot served as IDF chief while Meridor led the budget department, because he is “a leader with moral backbone, wisdom, and the calm strategic thinking needed to analyze problems in depth.”

Meridor joined a slate that includes former MK and communications minister Matan Kahana, who resigned from Gantz’s Blue and White party and the Knesset last year alongside Eisenkot; MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, who also resigned from Blue and White but remained in the Knesset; and Inbar Harush Gity, who led the Defense Ministry’s Directorate for Promoting the Recruitment and Integration of Haredim in the IDF.

Meanwhile, Bennett on Tuesday appointed the ex-commander of the Tel Aviv District Police, Amichai Eshed, to oversee the integrity of the upcoming elections on behalf of the Together party to ensure they are held freely and fairly.

Eshed will share the role with MK Karin Elharrar, who previously held the same post within Yesh Atid.

Confirming Eshed’s appointment in a post on X, Bennett said he is taking every necessary step to “unite, organize, and coordinate” with the other parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc, “to ensure that the elections are held in a correct and clean manner.”

Eshed resigned from the police force in 2023 following a public spat with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the Tel Aviv police chief’s allegedly lenient approach to traffic disruptions caused by anti-government protesters.

He alleged at the time that Ben Gvir had sought to demote him for refusing to use “disproportionate force” against protesters.

“Ami is an outstanding and valuable officer, and he is the most suitable person in the country for this important position,” Bennett wrote.