Standing in a flag-decked conference room of the upscale Dan Accadia Hotel in the beachfront city of Herzliya on Sunday evening, former prime minister Naftali Bennett and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid promised to usher Israel into a new, post-Netanyahu age.

Standing behind one of two identical podiums in front of the new logo of his and Lapid’s “Together” political union, Bennett addressed the assembled press, boasting that the decision to unite under one electoral list was the “most Zionist and patriotic act we have ever done, for the sake of our country.”

“Tonight, we are uniting and establishing the Together party under my leadership, a party that will lead to a great victory, and the opening of a new era for our beloved country,” Bennett declaimed, looking into the television cameras while photographers snapped their shots and reporters quickly typed notes into their smartphones and laptops.

Hours earlier, Lapid and Bennett’s spokespeople had announced that the two former allies had once again joined together, uniting their Bennett 2026 and Yesh Atid parties into a combined ticket called “Together – Led by Bennett” — a move which Bennett’s camp said “puts an end to infighting, and allows for all efforts to be invested toward a decisive victory in the upcoming elections.”

In Herzliya, Bennett doubled down on talk of unity and amity, declaring that while he and Lapid do not agree on everything, together they represent 80 percent of Israelis and that they “can fight together for the good of the people of Israel, just as our children, our soldiers, fight shoulder to shoulder.

“Our unity is a message to the entire people of Israel: The era of division is over. The era of correction has arrived,” Bennett continued, insisting that during their previous short-lived government, he and Lapid “accomplished in one year what other governments have not done in four” by improving the economy, stopping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of transferring suitcases of Qatari cash to Hamas, and returning “personal security to the streets.”

The Bennett-Lapid government, which was in office from 2021 to 2022, made history with its diverse coalition of right-wing, centrist........

© The Times of Israel