Yair Lapid re-elected as Yesh Atid leader after close primary vote

Yair Lapid has been narrowly re-elected as leader of his Yesh Atid party, securing the position by 29 votes. 

Yesh Atid held primaries for the first time since the party was founded with lawmaker and party member Ram Ben-Barak challenging Lapid.

Lapid received 308 votes while Barak got 279 votes. The former prime minister and current opposition leader thanked Barak for “a fair race.” Barak congratulated Lapid and said he “as his number 2, I pledge to do everything so that Yair Lapid will be the next prime minister. We are committed to replacing this bad government as soon as possible.”

Lapid said that no one but Yesh Atid offers Israel “a different vision and a different direction. Everyone surrendered and went and settled under Netanyahu, and only we remained, so only we will make the change”

“This government is responsible for the greatest disaster that happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and it has one goal, and one goal only: to forget about it. To have us forget it happened on their watch. There is no country in the world, not even one, where these people would stay in office even one more day,” he added.

Yesh Atid has been calling for new elections for months, but has dropped in the polls since the outbreak of the war on October 7. The last poll conducted by Channel 13 predicted Yesh Atid would drop from its current 24 seats to just 14.

“2024 is an election year. There will be elections. The change this country needs starts here and starts now. It’s time to write a new chapter in the life of this party, and in the life of this country,” Lapid said.