Yesh Atid party reschedules its first-ever leadership primary for March

30 January 2024, 9:50 am

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Left: Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid speaking during a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); right: MK Ram Ben Barak leading a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Internal security Committees, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 20, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party will hold its first-ever primary election for the party leadership in March, after it was postponed due to the war against Hamas.

The party, founded by Lapid in 2012, has never yet held a primary election. Days before the October 7 Hamas onslaught, it scheduled a leadership contest for December, but later pushed it off.

Members of the party’s committee have been informed of the new timing, Hebrew media reports.

Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak is expected to run against Lapid, who has previously served as interim prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister, and is currently the opposition leader.

Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz tells The Times of Israel that “a contest for the party leadership is a healthy and correct thing,” while defending the decision to continue avoiding an open primary vote for the party’s electoral slate.

Yesh Atid intended to hold a leadership primary in 2022, but canceled when Lapid ended up being the only candidate running.

Sam Sokol contributed to this report.