Bennett and Lapid to Unveil Unified 'Biyachad' Party List
Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will present their unified Knesset election list tonight. The second decade of candidates will feature an alternating structure between both factions.
Tonight (Sunday), the leaders of the newly formed "Biyachad" party, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, will present their complete unified list ahead of next month's Knesset elections.
Following yesterday's disclosure of the top ten candidates, it has been revealed that the two leaders have agreed on an equal sharing formula for the second decade of the list. Candidates ranked 11th through 20th will alternate in a "zipper" fashion: Bennett's nominee will take the 11th spot, followed by Lapid's nominee from Yesh Atid in the 12th spot, continuing this pattern.
Key Female Placements in the Top Ten
Meanwhile, Bennett is set to decide on the senior female representative from his camp. The two candidates are:
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Keren Turner (former Director-General of the Ministries of Transportation and Finance);
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Liran Avisar Ben-Horin (former Director-General of the Ministry of Communications).
One of them will be placed 3rd on the list, and the other 5th. Consequently, three women will occupy the 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots of the "Biyachad" list, as Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben-Ari is already secured in the 4th position.
The five Yesh Atid candidates expected to be placed in the second decade are Ram Ben-Barak, Naor Shiri, Vladimir Beliak, Yorai Lahav-Hertzanu, and Yasmin Sacks Friedman. Party sources noted that Beliak and Shiri earned their spots due to their prominent opposition work in the outgoing Knesset, where they blocked non-transparent budget transfers.
Coalition Talks with Chili Tropper
In parallel, intense political maneuvering continues. Bennett's associates have been pressuring former minister Chili Tropper, current head of the "Beit Zioni - Reservists" party, to join the alliance.
Bennett wants to integrate Tropper along with two of his candidates, Elyasaf Peretz and Shira Shapira. On Friday, Bennett visited Tropper's home in Nes Harim to advance the talks.
At the same time, Tropper is holding discussions with "Yashar" leader Gadi Eisenkot, though no progress has been reported as Tropper demands to merge only as an independent faction. Tropper is expected to make his final decision within the next 24 hours, ahead of this week's deadline for submitting party lists.
Under the current agreement, Lapid's Yesh Atid faction will hold a 40% representation on the joint list. Yesterday, amid a wave of retirements of veteran Yesh Atid MKs, Lapid revealed his top-ten placements: Ben-Ari in 4th, Noam Tibon in 6th, and Meirav Cohen in 9th.
