Eisenkot Says Bennett-Lapid Merger Shrinks Opposition Bloc

The latest campaign clash moved into opposition-bloc arithmetic Tuesday, as Gadi Eisenkot said Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid rejected his proposal for a three-way Yashar-Together alignment and instead produced a merger that weakened the Zionist opposition. Walla published recordings from a Yavne meeting in which Eisenkot argued the bloc had fallen from about 60 seats to 58 or 59 after the Bennett-Lapid move. Kipa and Times of Israel carried the same account, including Eisenkot's refusal to sit with Bezalel Smotrich while Smotrich backs dissolving the Palestinian Authority and Israeli control over Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. Israel's next election is already turning on who can build a serious governing alternative.