Israel’s election race shifts as Edelstein exits Likud and Bennett-Lapid alliance takes shape
Peloni: I mentioned some time ago that many things will change before the coming election. It is important to note that Yuli Edelstein tried to challenge Netanyahu in the last election, and that there will be no such challenge entertained in this current election within Likud. There has been an attempt to form an alternative to Likud with previous and current members of Likud, and that attempt failed to mature beyond talk and the creation of the all too unconvincing name of Likud-B. So, instead, or perhaps in anticipation of Likud B becoming more than a joke, an old ally of Netanyahu’s, but a more recent challenger of his, is striking out on his own. It is important to note that Edelstein is championing a break with the Haredi parties while Netanyahu is holding fast to his long tested and recently challenged partnership. So we will see how this matures in the coming days, but the plan for the formation of Likud B was initially to include more than just Edelstein.
On a side note, don’t miss the highlighted statement by Lapid below who admits his need to find an image of the Right behind which to hide in the form of his previous partner, Naftali Bennett. Recognizing the shift to the Right among the electorate serves his need to hide behind Bennett, but the association with Mr. Two-State Solution Lapid has not been so useful to Bennett who once again misjudged the consequences of joining with his Leftist ally Lapid as they face the coming election in a party so aptly named “Together”.
| Published: July 5, 2026
Edelstein, Knesset member. Photo by Itzhak Harari / Knesset Archives, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia
One of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longest-serving political allies is leaving the Likud Party ahead of Israel’s upcoming Knesset elections, citing the party’s continued support for draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men as incompatible with both Israel’s needs and his own principles.



Fireworks appear above the White House North Portico lit in red-white and blue lights Saturday evening, July 4, 2020, during the Salute to America 2020, Fourth of July celebration. Photo by The White House from Washington, DC – Salute to America 2020, Public Domain,
Pres. Trump Meets with Syrian Pres. Jolani. Photo by Donald Trump – 






