With war raging in the Middle East, we want to bring you as many trusted voices on the news as we can. One such voice is the Israeli journalist Amit Segal. He writes a daily newsletter, It’s Noon in Israel, which we’re pleased to publish in The Free Press.
It’s Monday, April 27, and it’s happening again. In 2013, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid joined forces to demand an end to Haredi draft exemptions, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exclude the ultra-Orthodox from his coalition. In 2021, they teamed up a second time to build a short-lived government that successfully forced Netanyahu into the opposition. Now, this final alliance is intended to finish the job and expel him from politics for good.
Last night, the two leaders officially merged their factions into a new joint party called Beyachad (“Together”). With Lapid’s backing, Bennett is now the undisputed prime ministerial candidate set to challenge Netanyahu at the ballot box this October.
