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Lapid-Bennett Alliance Shakes Up Israeli Politics

It isn't clear how long the alliance between Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid and HaBayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett will last, writes Ben Caspit, but the alliance is already changing the face of Israeli politics.
Yair Lapid (C), speaks during a Yesh Atid party meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 4, 2013. A surprise alliance between Israeli political stars, far-right Naftali Bennett, and centrist Lapid, who reject privileges for ultra-orthodox Jews is frustrating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a new government. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EKA3
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“The Start of a New Beginning” — that was the election slogan of Naftali Bennett’s HaBayit HaYehudi party. “We’ve Come to Make a Change” was the slogan of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party. It’s a well-known fact that in most cases, election slogans have a very brief life. They get tossed onto the political trash heap the day after the voting is over.

But this time, things worked out differently. These two slogans are being put into practice right before our eyes. The alliance between Lapid and Bennett is, without question, new and totally different. It's something we’ve never seen before. At the moment it appears this alliance is changing the face of Israeli politics, by giving it a good shake-up. It remains to be seen whether it will last, how long it will last and what kind of term Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who emerged from the elections battered and humiliated — has in store. The one thing that is clear, however, is that Israel has never had anything like this before.

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