Lapid warns that opposition will lose next election if they don’t unite

By Sam Sokol 16 February 2026, 3:04 pm

Edit

Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Polling shows that the “liberal bloc” opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may no longer be able to win the next election, and if members of the opposition continue to work at cross purposes,” we will lose,” warns Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

“For almost two years, every time I came in here and you asked me about the next elections, I said we will win. We, meaning the bloc, the liberal camp. I can’t say that anymore,” Lapid tells reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“The polls that are being published, and also very worrying in-depth studies that have not been published, say that it is no longer certain that the liberal bloc will win. If we don’t come to our senses – we will lose. If we continue to work against each other – we will lose,” he says, claiming that only his party has the political machine necessary to get out the vote in the next election.

Recent polls show the so-called “change bloc” narrowly edging out the Netanyahu-led right-wing bloc but not quite winning enough seats to form a government without outside support from the Knesset’s Arab parties.

“This is not the time to gamble. You need to play it safe. When you vote for Yesh Atid, you are 100 percent sure that we will not bow down and enter another Netanyahu government. We will not bow down and form a government with the Haredim that will continue with the blackmail and evasion,” Lapid says. “Forming a government is not a hobby – it is a profession. I am the only one in the camp who has done it.”

Recent months have seen tensions between members of the opposition, including between Yashar! chief Gadi Eisenkot and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, as well as between Lapid and The Democrats head Yair Golan. Recent tensions within Golan’s party have also reportedly threatened to split the alliance between its constituent Meretz and Labor factions.

“Precisely because the camp is so divided, the key to victory is Yesh Atid. We are not fighting here over the size of parties, we are fighting over the fate of our children, over what kind of country we want to be, and what values it will have,” Lapid says.