Inside the Israeli bloc that could topple Netanyahu
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 747 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel’s opposition is uniting to try to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections. Former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid are joining forces, but deep divisions remain over the war with Iran and Israel’s future direction. As pressure mounts on Netanyahu after months of war and political turmoil, can the opposition really take power?
In this episode:
- Mairav Zonszein (@MairavZ), Senior Israel Analyst, International Crisis Group
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Noor Wazwaz and Sarí el-Khalili, with Spencer Cline, Chloe K. Li, Tuleen Barakat, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, Benjamin Netanyahu's rivals are joining forces. |
| 0:16.0 | I am happy to announce to you this evening, together with my friend Yair Lapid, |
| 0:22.1 | I'm taking the most Zionist and the most patriotic step we have ever taken for the sake of our country. |
| 0:29.3 | It's a bid to finally challenge the Israeli Prime Minister's hold on power, but can they actually unseat him? |
| 0:37.4 | I'm Malika Bilal and this is The Take. |
| 0:47.6 | Hey everyone, as always, we'd love to hear how today's topic is resonating with you. |
| 0:53.5 | As you're watching this episode on |
| 0:54.9 | YouTube or Spotify, leave us a comment and let us know. If you're listening to the audio version |
| 1:00.2 | of this conversation on your favorite podcast app, we want to hear from you too. Leave us a review |
| 1:05.2 | and reach out on social media, where you can find us at A.J.E. Podcasts. And now, here's today's show. |
| 1:17.6 | My name is Merav Zunschind, and I currently work as the senior analyst on Israel with the |
| 1:23.5 | International Crisis Group. I'm also a journalist and a contributing opinion writer |
| 1:28.2 | with the New York Times. |
| 1:30.0 | My Arab, welcome back to The Take. It's nice to have you. You've been closely following |
| 1:34.6 | Israeli politics and society during this war with Iran. And I want to start with some political |
| 1:41.4 | news that erupted in the middle of all of that to Benjamin Netanyahu's |
| 1:46.5 | biggest rivals, former prime ministers themselves, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, have announced |
| 1:52.3 | their joining forces again ahead of upcoming elections. And that's in a bid to unseat Netanyahu. |
| 2:00.1 | So what is this alliance actually offering Israelis right now? |
| 2:06.1 | I think the biggest thing it's offering is not Netanyahu. And that continues to be the framing and the narrative in the Israeli political spectrum. |
| 2:15.8 | Both Bennett and Lapid, as you said, were co-prime ministers during a very |
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