Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a new coordinated challenge ahead of upcoming national elections, as two of his most prominent political rivals have announced a merger to form a new opposition party dedicated to ousting his far-right coalition government.
The new alliance, led by former right-wing lawmaker Naftali Bennett and centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, has branded itself “BeYachad” — Hebrew for “Together” — and has centered its early policy messaging on domestic priorities, most notably reforming military conscription requirements to include ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. On major regional security issues that dominate Israeli political discourse, however, analysts widely expect the new party to maintain a policy stance largely aligned with that of Netanyahu’s administration, the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. If the alliance takes power, that continuity means Israeli foreign and security policy would see little substantive shift across core regional fronts.
As of yet, BeYachad has not released a full formal policy platform. Below is a breakdown of the party’s known positions on key regional issues, drawn from recent public statements from its leaders and insider sources.
### Position on Iran
Bennett, 54, and Lapid, 62, have issued unwavering public support for Netanyahu’s decision to join the United States in carrying out military strikes against Iran, a stance that aligns with broad public backing for the military campaign across Israeli society. Shortly after Israeli airstrikes on Iran commenced, Lapid described the operation as a “just war against evil” in an interview with Reuters.
Despite this initial backing, both leaders have since criticized Netanyahu for failing to achieve what they frame as Israel’s core strategic objectives in the campaign — chief among them the overthrow of Iran’s clerical-led government. Even so, neither Bennett nor Lapid has called for a resumption of hostilities after an April 8 ceasefire halted exchanges of fire between Israel, the U.S., and Iran following the joint strikes.
A source close to the new party, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the two leaders as “hawkish” and “uncompromising on Iran” while also noting they bring pragmatic approach to the issue. “They understand that diplomatic agreements and post-conflict statecraft are just as necessary to achieve long-term strategic goals as military force,” the source added.
### Position on Lebanon
Bennett and Lapid also support Israeli military operations in Lebanon, and both have openly criticized the April 17 ceasefire that was intended to end fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, arguing the agreement has failed to eliminate the persistent threat Hezbollah poses to northern Israel.
Shortly before the IDF launched its ground incursion into southern Lebanon in March, Lapid stated Israel must take all necessary measures to protect its civilian population along the northern border. After the ceasefire was announced, Lapid emphasized that the only viable long-term solution is the permanent removal of all Hezbollah threats to northern Israeli territory.
Bennett has been even more scathing in his assessment of the truce. In an April 17 post to Facebook, he wrote: “We can already count down to the next round of fighting. Hezbollah started rebuilding its presence in southern Lebanon this morning, and it is rearming with more rockets to prepare for the next confrontation.”
### Position on Gaza
On the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where Israeli forces have continued to carry out deadly strikes despite an October ceasefire, both Bennett and Lapid have attacked Netanyahu for failing to fully dismantle Hamas following the group’s October 7, 2023 cross-border attack. The two leaders argue Netanyahu’s approach has left Hamas’ governing and military capacity intact.
In January, Lapid told audiences that Netanyahu’s government had secured the “worst possible outcome” in Gaza, noting Hamas still retains tens of thousands of active fighters and maintains control over a small stretch of coastal Gaza territory under the terms of the current ceasefire.
Earlier this month, Bennett echoed that criticism in a Facebook post, arguing that Netanyahu’s policy — which included allowing limited humanitarian aid into Gaza after a three-month total blockade in 2025 — has directly helped Hamas reconsolidate its control. “This is being done with the help of hundreds of aid trucks that Netanyahu’s government delivers to them every single day,” Bennett wrote.
Netanyahu, for his part, has framed the devastating military campaign in Gaza — which has destroyed most of the enclave’s infrastructure and killed more than 72,000 Palestinians according to local health officials — as a strategic success. He has left open the option of a full resumption of large-scale combat if Hamas refuses to disarm under a U.S.-brokered negotiation process, a requirement Hamas has rejected to date.
### Position on Palestinian Statehood
Public opinion polling shows a majority of Israeli voters oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and a BeYachad-led government would be unlikely to enact major policy changes on this issue regardless of its leaders’ past nuanced positions.
Netanyahu has long been a staunch opponent of Palestinian statehood, and his administration has accelerated Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, a move cabinet ministers have openly acknowledged is intended to permanently undermine any future prospects for Palestinian independence.
Lapid, who aligns with many centrist and left-leaning Israeli figures, has previously stated support for a two-state solution as the correct path forward, a position he laid out in 2022. Bennett, by contrast, has rejected the two-state framework. When asked by U.S. broadcaster ABC why he opposed the solution in a 2024 interview, Bennett argued any Palestinian state would inevitably become a base for terrorist violence against Israelis.
“What we have learned over the past 30 years is that every time we handed the Palestinians a piece of land, they did not build it into a peaceful, prosperous Singapore. They turned it into a terror state, and began killing Israelis,” Bennett said at the time.
Across the West Bank file, all three political leaders — Netanyahu, Bennett, and Lapid — have publicly condemned violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities. Settler attacks have surged in frequency and severity under Netanyahu’s tenure, and critics accuse the prime minister of tacitly tolerating attacks that see settlers burn Palestinian villages and assault local residents. Netanyahu’s office has repeatedly denied these accusations.
