Five Yesh Atid lawmakers announced ahead of the September 2 candidate-list deadline that they would not seek reelection on the party's joint B'Yachad slate with Naftali Bennett, citing the alliance's weak standing in the polls, The Times of Israel reported.
Founding member Meir Cohen framed his decision as a handover rather than a retreat. "I am happily and proudly making room for the party's next generation," he said. Fellow founding members Mickey Levy and Karine Elharrar, along with MKs Debbie Biton and Tatiana Mazarsky, all stepped back from running while remaining party members, each describing the move as clearing space for younger candidates.
Behind the public framing, senior B'Yachad officials were reportedly pushing a blunter message: that Bennett should drop his own leadership bid entirely and merge the slate with Gadi Eisenkot's surging Yashar party instead. Two other former Yesh Atid figures, Elazar Stern and Yoav Segalovitz, had already left to join rival parties, adding to the fragmentation of a centrist bloc that won 24 seats in 2022 but now faces a real risk of falling below the electoral threshold entirely.